LONDON (Reuters) - Almost a quarter of British motorists admit they have been so distracted by billboards of semi-naked models and other roadside eye-catchers that they have dangerously veered out of their lane.
In research released on Monday, one in five male drivers said their eyes were diverted from the road by posters of scantily clad women -- such as the saucy cleavage shots of model Eva Herzigova in her notorious adverts for Wonderbra.
However only one in 10 women were put off by the sight of a semi-dressed male model.
Flashing warning signs, huge advertising hoardings and Christmas decorations were also said to be major distractions.
"There is a growing body of concern about the lack of any coherent strategy for arranging roadside furniture," said Mark Young, an expert in transport ergonomics from Brunel University.
He said novel advertising could cause a significant risk of distracting drivers at crucial times, such as going round a difficult roundabout.
"In fact, this risk is probably underestimated and we need to do more research on the possibility of excluding non-essential information when the driver is already busy dealing with the road," he said.
The study, by Privilege Insurance, said a 5 second distraction at 60 mph equated to driving at least the length of a soccer pitch without fully concentrating.
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Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.
Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien
In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these
Flashing warning signs, huge advertising hoardings and Christmas decorations were also said to be major distractions.
Interesting note. I heard yesterday (NOT CONFIRMED by me) that the fantastic Christmas house display (lights choreographed to music) that's been floating around as an email attachment and (the URL) posted somewhere here was turned off voluntarily by the owner after Police asked him to. Evidently a lot of accidents (fender benders) were happening while people drove by gawking at the display. Anyone know if that's true?
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