I read several years ago in some trashy tabloid that red cars presumably are involved in more accidents than any colour car. My own theory is “so what, some colour has to be first, and some colour has to be last”. The closest explanation I’ve received from acquaintances that if there’s anything to it at all, it’s to do with the fact that red is at the end of the spectrum of visible light that is harder to see as nightfall approaches.
This looks like a job for SuperCecil!
Maybe there are just more red cars?
I’ve never seen a tabloid that would even begin to explain that kind of statistical subtlety.
If you think that red is hard to see, try a light/medium metallic blue or gray. What better way to get sideswiped in twilight than by painting your car the color of dusk!
I don’t have any stats, by my guess is that sportish cars seem to be boldly colored and the color of choice is often red. Some of the people who paint their cars Ferrari Red, buy a little red Corvette, or whatever are not going to drive like their mother’s in the passenger seat. On the other hand, I’ve heard that red cars get more than their fair share of tickets because they stand out in traffic. My personal experience seems to support this, but I can’t cite.
So, in summary, I dunno.
Red cars tend to get more traffic tickets. Whether that is because they stand out or because red in indicative of something in their owners’ personality is a mystery to me. They are not more prominent in traffic accidents than other colors as I recall.
It’s important to remember that correlation does not always indicate causation. Maybe there is a correlation between color and safety. But does that mean it’s dangerous for me to paint my car red? Not necessary. Maybe red cars are dangerous because they tend to be owned by younger and more reckless drivers. Or maybe it indicates that some types of cars are safer than others - most red cars are sports cars and compact cars, while white cars are mostly larger sedans, etc.
From my own experience, I believe that tan and beige cars must be the most dangerous. Once when I was crossing the road to get the mail, I was almost run down by a tan station wagon. I didn’t see it until it was almost on top of me. I swear it blended into the background better than camouflage. It was after sunset but before it got dark enough for headlights to be required.
The only thing I can think of that would make red cars dangerous is that they might blend into the red of the sky during sunrise and sunset. But by that reasoning, blue would be even more dangerous since the sky is blue more often than red.
Uh, I don’t think it has anything to do with how light reflects off red cars. I’m pretty sure its because either (1) many red cars are sport(y) cars, or (2) people with a red car can’t afford a sports car, but get a red car and drive it aggressively. Either way, a car that is driven more aggressively.
I think that the most dangerous color is dark green. It blends in with the vegitation around roadways and makes it harder to see. My mother had a dark green car that people were always pulling out in front of. After someone finally managed to hit it, she had it repainted yellow. The incidence of people failing to notice it fell sharply.
It’s because they go faster!
I do believe you’re right, hightech. I have heard several statistics that say the most popular car colour is red. Hence it follows that they would get in more accidents.
I’ve seen those lists, too - I’m pretty sure the most common overall color for all vehicles currently on the road is white. IIRC, red is third. I noticed because I have a red car.
Actually, the popularity of colors varies a great deal from year to year, witness the current craze for silver. A few years ago, it was dark green. DuPont publishes yearly popularity data:
IIRC, someone on this board a few weeks ago posted a cite that said that white and off white cars were in the most wrecks/got the most tickets because there are FAR more white cars than any other color. Think about it. Even if it’s not the most ‘popular’ even cars with limited color palettes usually include white. Can you think of a model line that DOESN’T have a version of white, other than the obvious Prowler/Model T, etc.
Pay attention on the road. You’ll see far more white cars than anything else.
White is a damned boring color for cars.
–Tim
Yeah, especially on Volvo wagons. The phrase “refrigerator on wheels” springs to mind.
Of course, musing about the distribution of car colors is probably a damn boring occupation as far as most people are concerned …
If you dig back through all those DuPont lists like the recent one I posted above, you’ll find that some “standard” colors like white, black and red always get on the list, although often beaten out by the trendy color for a given year. You’ll also note that to be fair, you have to add the several listed varieties of red together. Even so, on the 1999 lists, the combined reds only beat out white on the “sport/compact” list.
I wish the silver thing would hurry up and get over with, too. I’m in the market for a new car, and right now the lots are all full of silver cars - I actually liked the dark greens that were popular a couple years ago, but I wasn’t car shopping then. The lots also seem to be stocking up on a lot of various shades of brown - phooey.
There is no proof that red cars get more then their fair share of speeding tickets. Just another UL.
At one time they decided red was hardest to see at night, and made many firetrucks light green. The firemen pointed out that with the lights flashing and siren roaring, there was no problem, and red matched their macho self images better, and the green ones disappeared, except at volunteer stations where they use hand-me-downs.
Most fire engines are red because of one word: Tradition. There is a famous cliche in the American fire service, “250 years of tradition uninhibited by progress.” But I digress…
In the 1970’s, a study was released (I believe by Dr. Steven Solomon, but I’ll have to check on that) that stated red was the most difficult color to see, lime green being the easiest. Shortly after, many fire departments began either ordering new apparatus in the lime green paint scheme, or repainting their present fleet the new color (many times they would do both). A few problems were noticed:
These reasons led to most departments going back to their original red paint scheme. Notice I say most. Airport crash trucks are almost always lime green, and there are many large cities that retained the lime green coloring.
Modern standards regarding fire apparatus coloring pretty much says you can do whatever you want. Most departments go with the time-honored red, some stay with green/yellow, many (such as my department) prefer white, and there are even black, blue, and purple (Grapeville, PA) fire engines. With whatever color you use, there must be a retroreflective stripe of some type along the sides of the truck. Our white trucks have a 6" red reflective stripe. New Haven, CT (also white) has a white reflective stripe that only shows up at night.
For what its worth, white is the best color for a piece of fire apparatus.
