When buying a car most people put a lot of thought into what color they want it to be. But few think about how that color will affect their safety. According to a “Vehicle Colour Study,” conducted by Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) in Australia in 2007, cars with certain colors get in less car accidents than others.
White Vehicles are Least Likely to be in Car Accidents
From the study:
Compared to white vehicles, black cars had a 12 per cent higher crash risk, closely followed by grey cars with 11 per cent higher risk. Silver vehicles were next, with 10 per cent, then blue and red at 7 per cent.
While other car colours such as cream, yellow and beige ranked closely to white, no other colour ranked safer than white.
The MUARC research was supported by RACV, VicRoads, RTA, NRMA and the TAC. Using on-road crash data, researchers analyzed crashes between 1987 and 2004 in Victoria and Western Australia that resulted in death or injury or a vehicle being towed away.
“Previous international studies have examined vehicle visibility and colour but have not fully taken into account other factors that may have an impact on crash risk, such as driver demographics,” said Dr. Stuart Newstead, the lead researcher on the study and a Senior Research Fellow at MUARC.
Dr. Newstead said the study findings were clear and demonstrated that white vehicles had the lowest crash risk in all types of light conditions.
“Conversely, darker colours and colours with low contrast to the road environment, including silver, grey, green, red, blue and black, tend to be associated with a higher crash risk, particularly in daylight hours,” he said.
Of course, many factors other than color contribute to car accidents. But the affect the color of a vehicle has on its visibility cannot be discounted, especially in dark conditions and rough weather. White simply reflects available light better than all other colors, whether you are talking about cars or houses or t-shirts.
Does Car Color Affect Your Insurance Rates?
A common belief among many drivers is that insurance companies will charge you a different rate depending on what color your car is. Unlike the very real, practical reasons the color of your vehicle can affect its chances of being in a crash, the notion that insurance companies charge rates based on color is a myth:
According to an Insure.com survey done last year, 46 percent of 2,000 licensed drivers believed that red cars are more expensive to insure because they are pulled over more often.
Both things are false. The fact is, the color of your car is a non-factor to an insurance company and it is not even something most of them ask about.
If you have been in a car accident – no matter what color your vehicle – contact the experienced vehicle accident attorneys at Hilton & Somer, LLC for a free consultation.
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