A road safety campaign in Russia has come up with an inventive way to force drivers to slow down — by using topless women to carry speed limit signs.

    The scheme involves near naked women parading along the side of the road at accident blackspots. A trial showed that the idea significantly slowed traffic near a pedestrian crossing in Severny village, in the central Nizhny Novgorod region. Road safety campaigner Avtodrizhenia, who staged the trial, said that “most speeding drivers, the majority of whom happened to be men, slowed down to admire the female road safety assistants.”

    While the trial dates from 2013, the idea has been revived as part of a new national debate on reducing the 30,000 a year deaths on Russia’s roads. The topless women held signs warning of 60 and 40 kilometers per hour. There were no reports of accidents caused by drivers being distracted.

    Elderly pedestrians were grateful for the bizarre method, claiming they took their lives in their hands each time they use the designated road crossing.

    One female pensioner said, “Drivers do not let us cross. Some of them do but many others just fly past. They even shout at us — ‘why are you walking here?’ Can you believe it?”

    One of the models who stripped off for the experiment said, “Our drivers usually do not slow down when they pass a village or a settlement even though there are speed limit signs by the road. So we have to make them do it.”

    A male driver said, “It’s super thing, amazing. I’d like to see more of this by the road, and yes I looked at the speed limit sign this time. It will teach other drivers too.”

    Igor Mikhailushkin, head of the regional police press service in Nizhny Novgorod region, where the experiment took place, said, “We have organized similar installations this and last year trying to make the drivers obey the speed limit. But I must say our girls were dressed more than these women.”

    Figures suggest Russia’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world.

俄罗斯一个道路安全宣传活动用颇具创意的方式让司机减速：裸胸美女在路边举限速牌。该活动还包括让衣着清凉的女性在事故多发路段游行。

在下诺夫哥罗德区中心的塞弗尼村开展的公路安全活动试点结果显示，这项措施的效果还不错，车辆在经过人行横道时会减速。本次交通安全宣传活动的发起人Avtodrizhenia说：“大多数超速司机（主要是男性）会把车速降下来欣赏这些交通协管员。”其实这项试点活动从2013年就开始了，但近来由于俄罗斯国内又在讨论如何减少每年3万起交通死亡事故，这个创意又获得新的关注。

裸胸女性高举时速60公里和40公里的限速警告牌。目前还没有司机因此分心而造成事故的报道。老年人对这一不走寻常路的活动十分支持，他们说每次过交叉路口时，都好像与“死神擦肩而过”。一名老妇说：“那些司机从来不让我们先过马路，有些人会慢下来让我们通过，但其他人会飞快驶过。你相信吗？他们甚至朝我们大喊大叫 —‘你们为什么从这儿走？’”

为该活动宽衣的一位女模特说：“司机们在通过村庄或交叉路口时通常不减速。即使有限速标志也没用。所以，我们必须让他们慢下来。”

一男性司机说：“这个主意太棒了，我很乐意在路边看到更多美女限速牌，这回我真的看了限速标志。别的司机也一定会看的。”

下诺夫哥罗德地区警方新闻发言人伊格尔•米哈伊尔乌什琴表示，“我们去年和今年都组织了类似的活动，希望司机能够遵守限速规则。不过，我不得不说，我们警局的女同事比这些女士穿得多一些。”

有数据表明俄罗斯公路是世界上最危险的公路之一。(Chinadaily.com.cn)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【盲点】mángdiǎn blackspot a hazardous place in a road where accidents frequently occur

【脱掉】tuōdiào strip off remove clothes or a covering from a thing or person