"Hey -- senorita -- baybee..............Screeeeech!!!

It was just one of those little items that catches a body's attention when perusing the morning paper. It seems that in the South American nation of Colombia that drivers ogling babes on the streets has been deemed one of the leading causes of traffic accidents. While cellphone use while driving was numero uno, accounting for 10 percent of all accidents, perusing the bodaciousness of female pedestrians accounted for at least one crash in 20. It is good to know that machismo is still alive and well in Latino countries.

I don't know what the North American stats are for such sexist inspired transgressions of traffic flow, but I suspect they are also rather high. I remember once, when I was in my twenties, standing talking to a friend on the street, when a female strolled by. She was in the tightest and teeniest of white shorts and an excruciatingly bust enhancing red top (see, I remember after all these years). Completing the ensemble image was a Bardot-like sort of chignon hair style, and bare feet. My friend and I, I confess, noticed her, and then went back to our discussion of the rise of the Hanseatic League in medieval North German kingdoms. Actually, what we did notice was a middle-aged buffoon in a car who was transfixed by the image sufficiently that his car actually mounted the curb and had an encounter with a power pole. The man was mortified, because he knew what had caused the accident. The young lady in question just kept on walking, but we suspected she was chuckling to herself thinking what predictable morons men are.

This is a very long preamble to a brief thought I have about assorted jurisdictions debating whether or not cellphone use in vehicles should be prohibited. In the province of BC they are refusing to budge, despite the fact that the roads, and even freeways abound with idiots who must remain so connected that the wellbeing of everybody on the road, not to mention the kids, securely trussed in the backseat, come secondary.

I am sorry, but to me it's a no-brainer. There is never a call that is so important that the driver cannot take time to pull off to the side and make or take his or her call. I mean, what is this. Are assorted governments in cahoots with cellphone services, or do those who govern us not want to give their rights to make contact with a bookie or escort agency? OK, maybe that's unfair. Maybe they want to keep in touch with the missus over the forthcoming church social.

Driving is a dangerous business, and I haven't been immune to assorted distractions over the years, so maybe some precautions are needed.

However, how does Colombia propose to ban ogling? I would be interested in perusing those findings.