Which color cars are the safest???

[kile529]

My mom and I are talking -

She says Red then Yellow......but a google search said Silver!

Anyone with more information??!!?? :)

[southpawboston]

My mom and I are talking -

She says Red then Yellow......but a google search said Silver!

Anyone with more information??!!?? :)

the best source of that info would be insurance companies. i don't know if this is just urban legend, but i've heard that insurance companies charge more if your car is a certain color, based on the statistics of what colors are more often involved in an accident.

also, safe for whom? the driver of the car whose color is in question, or the people driving near that car?

along those lines, urban legend has it that red cars are more likely to be in an accident (being that red induces aggression and anger).

but silver is the safest? according to what source? i have heard that silver is more reflective and causes more eye fatigue in the drivers of silver cars. my car is silver (bright silver, at that), and i was disturbed to hear about the eye fatigue issue associated with silver cars (and white ones), but if you say that silver is the safest, then my interested is raised...

[kile529]

i just did a google search of "what color cars are safest"......everything on the first page of results said silver! lol

[LuvBug03]

yeah I have always heard silver was BAD, even saw a diagnostics show testing how bad it could be in the sun on a wide stretch of road(they were recreating a crash). This has been brought up here before, try searching the forum with the same keywords.

[kile529]

that's exactly what my mom had said! lol and that's why i came here to ask.....

good thinking - I'll try a search and see what comes up! Thank! :)

[kile529]

just checked the search...noone ever seemed to come up with any "testing results".....surprising.....but just means that I get to google more! lol

[lovinwaves]

Umm...Don't buy green because Dh hit a Green car a few months ago because it blended in with the grass across the highway LOL! :rolleyes:

[LuckyFins3Lil'Fish]

I'd say that red ones are bad. My mom had a red car quite a few years ago. In that car she was in 1 major major accident (I was w/ her) & then she was rear ended I think at least 3 or 4 times. She was literally rear ended once every 2 years. She got rid of it & got a purple car & now has a grey/green (seafoam green) SUV & has not been in an accident since.

In the past 7 years I've been in 1 very very minor bumper rub accident & that's w/ only a white car & now a white SUV.

[Patriot201]

I'm really surprised by the "silver is safest" result. Hmmm.....

I would think silver would the least safe in some situations. For example, in that rainy, misty weather, I have a hard time seeing silver cars. They blend into highways (especially when the driver doesn't have headlights/taillights on!!!).

[papooses]

My cousin is an insurance agent & he's always telling people to avoid red cars because they're involved in the most crashes.

[Jeanum]

I'm really surprised by the "silver is safest" result. Hmmm.....

I would think silver would the least safe in some situations. For example, in that rainy, misty weather, I have a hard time seeing silver cars. They blend into highways (especially when the driver doesn't have headlights/taillights on!!!).

Right, it seems like any color's safety would be relative to and intertwined with other factors. The particular color's visibility will depend a lot on the surroundings, time of day, weather, and/or time of year, especially in areas with 4 seasons of weather ranging from blizzards to hot, sunny summer days. It would be really hard to correlate color with accidents without controlling for the visibility, background color contrast conditions, weather, lighting conditions, etc., I would think. :twocents:

Anecdotally, I think our vehicles must have stealth/cloaking technology given the number of times DH and I have been in crashes, no matter what the color. ;)

[CPSDarren]

The most visible colors are yellow and lime green. That's where your eyes are most sensitive and those colors show up well at night, too.

I doubt statistics would back this up, though. Seems like most yellow and bright green cars are sports/muscle cars. Family vehicles always come in the boring colors...

[southpawboston]

My cousin is an insurance agent & he's always telling people to avoid red cars because they're involved in the most crashes.

but can he back that up with claim data and/or insurance rates?

from one of the google hits on the OP's search terms:


Car buyers often ask, "What color car is safest?" Unfortunately,

the relationship between car color and safety is not at all clear, because only two scientific investigations of the matter have been conducted to date, and the authors of both studies admitted that they were not able to draw clear or generalizable conclusions.

The relationship between car color and safety is complex. Background color (trees, desert, etc.), weather conditions (rain, fog, snow), and daylight have a profound effect on conspicuity.

[twokidstwodogs]

In order to determine that, you would also have to eliminate the influence of the driver's color preferences. I'm sure that some colors are more popular with some demographics than others, and obviously crash rates vary with age, etc. If red cars are involved in more accidents, it might be because a given red car is more likely to be driven by someone who is more likely to get into an accident anyway.

FWIW, I think my silver car is a little hard to see. I like it, but I don't think it's the most visible color around.

[UlrikeDG]

This is what I have heard as well: yellow is easiest to see, but when it comes to "statistical safety" you have other factors, like who is driving and what kind of car. A "screaming yellow" Mustang is probably at higher risk than my tan minivan.

[kile529]

My first vehicle was a bright yellow Ford Splash (Ranger).....it was awesome....until I drove it into a tree! ugh! That still makes me sick! lol

[wondering1]

I'd go for yellow, given the choice!

[Melanie]

This is not based on any facts....just a theory.

What if it's not the color of the car, but the type of driver that is attracted to that color? Maybe silver is safest because the "typical" people driving silver cars are safer drivers. The stereo-typical young aggressive drivers would be prefer bright sporty colors.

I used to work for an insurance company. The rates wern't based on the color of the car, but the model was a factor. Liability coverage (the part that pays for the other drivers car and injuries if you cause an accident) was based on accident statistics. For example, the Chevy Cavalier had a higher than average liability rating. This wasn't because it would cause a lot of damage (like a big SUV), but because the "typical" driver was young...so inexperienced, etc.

BTW: I must be the boring safe driver...I have a silver sedan and white van.

[beebear23]

I'll say anything but BLUE! My blue Focus seems to NEVER be seen by other drivers. I always have people pulling out in front of me and stuff.. I think I blend in w/the horizen or something. I don't know. Either that or people just really are stupid.

[lynsgirl]

Well, my van is silver, but it wasn't my color choice. I really wanted the charcoal-gray color (Phantom Gray Pearl, I believe it was called :D ), but my choices on the lot were limited and I'm not complaining lol. Not sure how much easier a darker charcoal color is to see than silver :shrug-shoulders: but I just like it better. Dh likes that burnt orange kind of color and I'd be ok with it, I guess. His favorite pick for a vehicle color is yellow - the color yellow of the whistling smiley (well, close, anyway). :whistle:

[southpawboston]

given that color likely plays a very small role in safety (and can't really be quantitated), i'm going to go ahead and continue picking cars based on what color i like. ;)

[kile529]

I'm with you! :)

[papooses]

but can he back that up with claim data and/or insurance rates?Yes, they do charge owners of red cars more. They're in FL if that matters.

[BudgieStew]

We had a red one for a few years. It was always I mean always getting broken into, hit, keyed, pulled over, you name it it happened.
Some of the accidents were not accidents but road rage by others.:mad:

We hope to never own another red car.

[FuzzyDolly]

My Jeep is Solar Yellow (when it's not covered in mud), and you'd be surprised how many people don't see it. You think this bright yellow truck would grab people's attention. Nope. At least once a week, someone cuts me off or turns in front of me. I mean, come on, how can you miss it?

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3040/p3250015zh7.th.jpg (http://img516.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p3250015zh7.jpg)

Honestly... I think they just need to make it more difficult to pass the road test. I also believe they should also make people re-road test every 5-10 years. Sorry for getting off topic...