# Any proof that red cars get more tickets **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640 "2008-07-16T03:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/21 "2008-07-17T14:09:01Z")
I would expect the color most likely to cause accidents is all chrome. Especially on a sunny day. [http://malteshashrit.wordpress.com/2006/12/14/chrome/](http://malteshashrit.wordpress.com/2006/12/14/chrome/) [http://www.bornrich.org/entry/all-chrome-bmw/](http://www.bornrich.org/entry/all-chrome-bmw/) ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/22 "2008-07-17T14:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=WarmNPrickly] I would expect the color most likely to cause accidents is all chrome. Especially on a sunny day. > **[Private Site](https://malteshashrit.wordpress.com/2006/12/14/chrome/)** [http://www.bornrich.org/entry/all-chrome-bmw/](http://www.bornrich.org/entry/all-chrome-bmw/) [/QUOTE] I WANT one of those… _goes counting the pennies in the piggy-bank_ ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/23 "2008-07-17T14:19:42Z")
I wonder if the source of this idea is the rumour that bored traffic police play “[car snooker](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/422651.stm)”? This would mean that every other car stopped would have to be red, in order to compile a break (and black cars should be the next favourite). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/24 "2008-07-17T14:31:34Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] Worm– My unselective observation leads me to believe that the most common colour for cars in the US is grey. I remember back when cars used to come in different colours, but eighty percent today seem to be some shade of grey. [/QUOTE] Scientific observation shows that the most popular color for new automobiles in 2005 was silver at 26%, followed by white at 13%, and black at some number under 10% which I’ve long since forgotten. Those numbers are from PPG. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/25 "2008-07-17T14:32:22Z")
OK, ok… I accept complete and utter defeat on my WAG. It sounded kinda good in my head though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/26 "2008-07-17T14:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=WormTheRed] OK, ok… I accept complete and utter defeat on my WAG. It sounded kinda good in my head though. [/QUOTE] Those numbers were for North American only, so you might not be wrong in your corner of the world. Here are 2007’s numbers (for North America), which are a tad different: [QUOTE=DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report] 1. White/White Pearl 26% 2. Black 16% 3. Silver 14% 4. Red 13% 5. Gray 12% 6. Blue 11% 7. Beige/Brown 4% 8. Green 2% 9. Yellow/Gold 1% 10. Other 1% [/QUOTE] [Here](http://www2.dupont.com/Automotive/en_US/assets/images/newsEvents/ColorPop/Europe_hi-res.jpg) are the numbers from Europe, which are a bit different (but still dominated by neutral finishes). ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/27 "2008-07-17T14:51:09Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Those numbers were for North American only, so you might not be wrong in your corner of the world. Here are 2007’s numbers (for North America), which are a tad different: [Here](http://www2.dupont.com/Automotive/en_US/assets/images/newsEvents/ColorPop/Europe_hi-res.jpg) are the numbers from Europe, which are a bit different (but still dominated by neutral finishes). [/QUOTE] Nah… it probably matches the European numbers, considering the amount of Tanks (SUV.s) on the roads here. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/28 "2008-07-17T14:54:56Z")
So, if we count black and white as “shades of grey” (silver is just shiny grey) then my estimate of 80% is spot-on. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/29 "2008-07-17T15:01:12Z")
I read somewhere the most ticketed cars are white because they contrast with the background (trees, dirt, etc.) as opposed to red, green, and other colors that are not as visually distingushable from a distance. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640/30 "2008-07-17T18:20:51Z")
The numbers on [AutoTrader.com](http://AutoTrader.com), which is a good proxy for all US cars, are: Black - 9% White - 8.5% Silver - 8.1% Blue - 4.9% Red - 4.7% Gray - 3.5% Green - 2.2% There’s a long tail of variants on these. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-proof-that-red-cars-get-more-tickets/456640.md?page=1)