Are certain color cars safer than others?

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Synchro246

New member

• Jan 24, 2007

• #1

I feel like this is a kinda stupid/silly question, but I've been thinking about it for three days so here it is.

Does anyone know if certain colors are more likely to be involved in an accident? How about the ol' insurance thing- I've heard that red cars are more expensive to insure, but that sounds dubious. Anyone know the truth on that?

Seems like yellow would be a very visible color and therefor a safe color car. What do you think?

 

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southpawboston

New member

• Jan 24, 2007

• #2

i heard the same thing about red cars and insurance companies... don't know if there is any truth to it?

i have read somewhere that certain colors that are highly reflective (e.g., silver) can dramatically increase light scatter (glare) for the driver and front passenger. i don't know if insurance company claims data supports that this has any effect on safety.

 

Splash

New member

• Jan 24, 2007

• #3

Red ones are no more expensive to insure. It's a myth. The myth arises from the fact that, in the past, the cars most likely to be red were sports cars, and sports cars are definitely more expensive to insure. So... it was partially true. Your car, which is red, is more expensive to insure, because it's a sports car. But if you were to ask for a quote on identical vehicles, one red and one another color, you'd get the same quote.

Grey and silver vehicles are more difficult to see on highways, as well as white ones to a lesser extent. I would imagine that there may be a small (VERY small) safety margin of another color over those, but not anything statistically significant.

 

lovinwaves

New member

• Jan 24, 2007

• #4

My husband hit a green Saturn a couple months ago. The way it was positioned on the road, it blended in with the grass on the other side of the highway. Now of course he could have looked better, but it was definitely something I had never thought about before.

 

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LuvBug

New member

• Jan 24, 2007

• #5

Id say get a neon orange one, should be nice and safe and noticable lol!

I remember a show on the discovery channel(or TLC) years ago testing if it was true about silver(light grey?) cars and being invisible at certain points and they actually proved it to be true. Had something to do with a deadly accident on the highway in the desert or something.
I think it would just be visibility to other drivers that Id be concerned about. I dont know what colors are easily visible and what arent, Id probably say red would be nice and visible.

 

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cso1997

Active member

• Feb 2, 2007

• #6

I wish I could find it now but yes there have been statistics compiled to show that some car colors are more likely to be involved in accidents. I wish I could more fully answer your question but I never seem to have the link when I need it.

 

Splash

New member

• Feb 2, 2007

• #7

lilac0422 said:

I wish I could find it now but yes there have been statistics compiled to show that some car colors are more likely to be involved in accidents. I wish I could more fully answer your question but I never seem to have the link when I need it.

Click to expand...

Whites ones make up the highest crash numbers. Because there are more white cars.

You can't say one color is more or less likely, because some colors are more common. A crash is more likely to contain a white car than any other, but that does not mean a white care is more likely to crash.

 

skipspin

New member

• Feb 2, 2007

• #8

I read an article about this a while ago and it was more based on the fact of the kind of people that tend to pick certain colors of vehicles, therefore making them look better or worse in the statistics. Younger men tend to pick colors like red, so statistically there are more incidences with red cars than white cars when you account for the ratio of white to red. People with more money tend to pick silver, and on and on. I'll have to see if I can find it. It was interresting if nothing more.

That being said, I believe that it said "creative" people choose yellow vehicles, and more "conservative" people choose blue, so I guess in a few weeks I will be more conservative. (I have a yellow VUE now, and am getting a blue Jeep.) LOL. It was great when some guy in a Blazer hit my mirror on a two lane road and said he didn't see me. I told the officer, "Well, I was driving down the road in my bright yellow car, it was slightly overcast and not raining. I'm not sure how he missed me." The cop laughed!

 

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Synchro246

New member

• Feb 2, 2007

• #9

So because personality seems to go into color choice of car and numbers of certain colored cars on the road influence the way we would have to look at staticsits I really want to focus on the physical aspect of what color car is most visible.
I read/heard somewhere that the brain reacted more quickly to yellow than other colors. We see it quicker-- if that makes sense.
Do you think this is true?

 

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LuvBug

New member

• Feb 2, 2007

• #10

I do, I think certain colors are more noticeable, have faster recognition times. It would be interesting to know exactly which they are.
Since accidents happen in the blink of an eye I wonder if a noticeable color would make a difference? Like I said they did prove there is at least 1 color at a certain time of day in a certain stretch that is invisible lol!(bits and pieces of that show are coming back, something about stretch of highway in a clay desert or something? at high noon? lol!)

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Feb 3, 2007

• #11

My first car was a silver Hyundai Excel hatchback. AT certain times of day and in certain weather conditions it could be extremely difficult to see.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Feb 3, 2007

• #12

I agree the color's visibility to other drivers can vary depending on the weather, time of day, sunlight, and general environment. A white car would be potentially less visible in snowy or foggy conditions, I would think, while a dark green car may blend into spring/summer surroundings in well treed or rural non-desert area. A blue car could blend in more in crystal clear blue skied wide open horizon and/or shoreline environments. A dark colored car might be less visible for other drivers at night. A red car or bright yellow could stand out more in contrast in most locations.

That being said, I've had cars in various colors, fire engine red, bright blue, white, dark green, beige, black, and gold. No matter what color, I swear my past and present cars all must have some hidden stealth technology or cloaking, due to the number of close calls or worse with other drivers.