Color Matters - Hot Topics from the Bulletin Board Archives

Colors and Cars

Is there a correlation between car color and accidents?

Maria Campsall
I was just broad sided by grey coloured car today. I did not see the car before I made a left hand turn. I did not see lights on the car, before I made the turn. It seemed to come out of nowhere. This is not the first time this has happened to me....the first time I escaped by the skin of my teeth. Grey car owners beware....turn on your lights when driving DAY or night....and watch out for people making left hand turns...you blend into the road too much.

Steve and Lori
We owned a 1986 "charcoal Gray" Subaru Wagon. In the 3 years that we owned this car it was hit while stationary 6 times. After the 6th time we said "adios" and got a different car. I understand that Subaru also discontinued this color near the same time. It was a mid-range gray color that evidently doesn't fit into some people's visual range at dusk or afterwards

elena
My cousin owns a body shop. Before buying my last car I asked which color would be best. "Anything but silver - grey. Those cars are over 65% of my business. They seem to get hit all the time!" I bought a bright red convertible. Haven't had a ticket or accident in over 20 years. I'll keep on with the red that I love so much.

VW
I drive a lime green vw and it's about killed me. It seems that when driving in areas where there is high amounts of green (corn fields, forest areas, etc.) people can't see surroundings. Now I haven't had this problem sitting still, only when moving so watch out if you buy the new VW bugs and it's green.

Anon
I own a "Champaigne" colored honda. When I first purchased the car I noticed a higher frequency of people pulling out in front of me from stop signs, etc. Since that time I have started driving with my lights on at all times. This seems to make my car more visible, and has resulted in fewer people pulling out in front of me.

Anon
I once owned an 1980 "sand-beige" ford escort. "sand-beige" is a metallic goldish color which looks much nicer and honey-toned in the showroom than it does on the street. In the 4 years that I owned the car, it was hit 11 times. Each time it was either completely stopped at a light, stopsign or parked. Apparently, this is a hard color to see, particularly on sunny days. Now, I drive a black VW and have not been in an accident in 5 years.

......from Color Matters:
No, no, no! Color is not used to calculate auto insurance rates. Information that is used includes the vehicle's year, make, model, body type and engine size, as well as information about the driver. For instance, you'll see high rates if you own a new blue 400-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette V-8 and have a poor driving record -- but lower rates if you have a red Toyota Camry four-cylinder sedan and a good record.
Source: A survey conducted by DriveSM Insurance

Do red cars get more speeding tickets?

Chris Willard
I've seen many blips here and there regarding this but never any facts on it. Do police really keep data on the colors of the cars they ticket? Seems like an urban legend to me. Anyone have verfiable stats?

Ro
Hi Susan . . . While I don't have an answer to your question about red cars getting more speeding tickets, I may be able to point you in the direction of a place to look for related information. . . Several years ago when I was contemplating repainting my car Red, a friend in the car repair business for many years talked me out of it. Why? Red cars, he said, get into more accidents than cars any other color . . . He said his experience with several car repair firms bore this out . . . It might be interesting to call a few repair shop owners and see what they say about this . . . Just a thought! Good luck! Ro

Mac
Donna, I suggest you simply call State Farm or Allstate or the AAA. I believe they have comprehensive records that correlate car color to accident rates. You may be able to draw some correlations between vehicle velocities and the accident histories. I suspect you'll find that 'in general' there is a tendency for red car owners to be more zealous. (Keep in mind, they would have had to have the option during their purchase to buy another color...maybe the particular car they bought only was available in red that day). I also suspect you'll find that white car owners show some unique character traits...as with green, etc. too. Again, if they didn't have a wide choice of colors when they got the car, then, the significance may be irrelevant. Try the insurance companies for data. Regards, Mac

LKP
Ro and Chris both offer good advice. You might try triple A or some other insurance company. Better yet, contact Tom and Ray Magliozzi at Cartalk. They have a website on which you can post questions and, perhaps, get an answer. It's worth a shot. You also might see if there's any gov't bureau with such stats. Good Luck.

Mary
I have done research on this very topic.. and yes red cars do get more speeding tickets. The question is... are there more red cars on the road? Incidently, black cars get the second most. Good Luck!

Anon
Folks... SPORTS CARS ARE USELESS! Get something invisible. Something old, plain, and conservative. It's not just RED... it's the sportiness / flashiness. You know cops love to write tickets to BMW's too. A granny in an 8 year old Buick is a completely different story.

Tambi
Here's the tally for my family: 3 white Audi (two dismissed - one pending) 1 yellow Audi (dismissed) 0 red Audi (and she's the one with the lead foot!!!) 5 drivers total 5 years

Personal experience here Donna
I owned a red Pontiac Firebird (still mourning the sale of it) and had a speeding ticket on the highway less than one week of owning it. Was I speeding? Yep, only because I was late for work though... my fault. BUT... I think the police are on the lookout for such cars, and here is why. I decided to get a radar detector as I was driving 113 miles one way for work and couldn't afford any more tickets. The detector alerted me of a trooper ahead, so I slowed down to 50MPH in a 55MPH zone. As I came around a curve, the detector lit up like a missle launch once my car was viewed by the trooper. So "my" opinion here... color, type, make of auto... all will affect the way people drive as well as how they are 'perceived' by others to be driven. Hope this helps and sorry for such a long story :) Don

Thorne Hartford
You might try calling the California Highway Patrol or your own state police to see if they can direct you to information on the subject. Do know that small red sports cars driven by men do seem according to a CHP friend to get stopped more often due to the cocky attitude of the male driver...I think it is unfair as I think unwashed ratty cars are a bigger problem since Insurance Agencies say these drivers are less attentive..

anon
I'm not suprised that they would prohibit Red cars in Ecuador and Brazil. I guess statistics don't lie, eh? Someday the Brazilians will realize that when manufacturers make Red cars, they've programmed them to have collisions and put in overpowered engines and loose steering, defective turn-signals, and faulty brakes. Maybe they'll realize that there is a covert action where the car salesmen only sell Red cars to hyper active lunatics that have had their driving licenses revoked....etc. etc. The rules and laws created to regulate people and societies are just hysterically silly sometimes....

Simone Basilio
I don't know where people find these crazy things about Brazil. I am collecting all these funny "misinformations" to send to my Brazilian friends. Red cars prohibited in Brazil??? It's absolutely untrue!!!

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Anonymous:
n the UK, there is an urban myth that the traffic police play Automobile Snooker(AS). In the original game of snooker, a player tries to pot balls on a billiard table. After potting a red ball (which is worth one point) the player then tries to pot a coloured ball. You get two points for a yellow, three for green, four for brown, five for blue, six for pink and seven for black. If you pot the cue ball (which is white) you have four points taken away. Transferred to the open road this means that if your local police are playing AS, you are 15 times more likely to get a speeding ticket (there are 15 reds on a snooker table) if you have a red car than any other coloured car but white. If you have a white car, you're pretty unlikely to get pulled over.

White car stories

WIZ44630
I drive a white car. Would never drive another color. Guess what? People who drive white cars are in the white car click. I always let people who drive white cars get in front of me. They always do the same for me too. From now on, take a moment and notice the white car click. You will always see 2 or more white cars together..even driving along the highway. We help each other out. COOL WHITE.

Mac A Meleon
Gee Wiz, I drive a chameleon colored car. We have a click too! One of our joys is to find white cars. We let the people in white cars get in front of us. We've really noticed this white car click. When we see a white car, we always join it - so the guys in the white cars will always think that white cars travel in pairs. We really have them fooled! COLOR CHAMELEON CAR. :-)

Thalomarly
Yes,well you white cars really should be more carefull. I drive a cement truck that is painted a deep shade of asphalt,(with matching yellow go faster stripes), and I am not sure you white cars are looking in your rear view before hopping onto the interstate.I was busy doing my regular route,tossing out pebble projectiles,trying to spider web as many unsuspecting cars,(all colors,no predujice),and I was very nearly cutoff by the courteous car brigade the other day. Remember,objects in your mirror are really so much closer than you think.

Jake
My GOSH!! White cars would look cleaner than other colors??? You guys live somewere in the country side and probably in a very sunny area. You do probably never have to leave your car "outdoors". I tell you something, I´m a car mechanic and I owned about 35 cars to date. This VW Rabbit is in excellent shape, I owned it for 5 years now. You won´t find a car more often washed, kleaned and waxed than mine! BUT IT`S WHITE, SO I SELL IT!!! I`M SO SCREWED SPENDING 75 dollars a week to keep it nearly white. You guys don´t probably look very close at your cars, do you? Half an hour after cleaning and waxing, my car is far from white!! It´s already turning grey...traffic dust, the following day the shine is almost really gone.. AND I DO USE HARDWAX OF HIGHEST QUALITY! In Germany they pay less for white used cars than for any other color due to the fact that it hard to sell, because people know it´s always gonna look dirty! I can sell mine to You guys, and if you are so convinced of the superiority of white pay me more than smart people do! Never a white car again! PS! Metallic-silver is my favorite looks nearly always like brand new. So do red ones also.