Do you know that the color of your car might actually affect whether you get in accidents. Although it sounds crazy, there’s actually real research to back this up.
When you’re picking out a car, you’re probably thinking about whether you want something sporty looking or professional, or maybe you’re worried about how often you’ll have to wash it. But nobody’s thinking “hmm, will this color get me killed on the highway?”
But apparently some researchers had way too much time on their hands and decided to study whether car color actually matters for safety. And honestly? The results are very surprising!
So What Did They Actually Find?
There’s this study from Australia that gets quoted all the time, and they found that black cars are about 12% more likely to crash than white cars. Twelve percent! That’s actually pretty significant when you think about it.
The basic idea is that if other drivers can’t see you as well, they’re more likely to, you know, drive into you. Makes sense when you put it that way.
And it’s not just one study either – multiple research projects have found similar patterns where lighter colored cars seem to get hit less often than darker ones.
The whole thing comes down to visibility and contrast. If your car blends into the background or is hard to spot in someone’s peripheral vision, that’s when bad things happen.
The “Safest” Colors (Apparently)
White cars consistently show up as the safest in these studies. Which honestly makes sense – white stands out against pretty much everything. Roads, trees, other cars, whatever.
Yellow is another big winner, probably because it’s so obnoxiously bright that everyone notices it. Ever wonder why school buses and taxis are yellow? Yeah, there’s actually a reason for that.
Gold and beige sound boring as hell, but they apparently do pretty well too. They’re light enough to stand out but not so bright that they blind everyone.
Orange is statistically really safe, but good luck finding an orange car that doesn’t look like a traffic cone. Though honestly, maybe that’s the point.
The “Dangerous” Colors
Black cars are basically the worst performers in these safety studies. At night or in bad weather, they’re like stealth vehicles that nobody can see until it’s too late.
Gray and silver cars are also problematic because they blend in with the road. Ever notice how many cars on the highway look exactly like the pavement? Yeah, that’s not great for visibility.
Dark blue and dark green have similar issues – they just disappear into the background, especially in low light conditions.
Don’t get me wrong, these colors look awesome and sophisticated. But apparently looking cool might come with a tiny bit of extra crash risk.
Why This Actually Matters
Here’s the thing – when someone’s driving and scanning for other cars, they’re not really looking directly at everything. Most of what they notice is in their peripheral vision.
If your car doesn’t create enough contrast with whatever’s behind it, other drivers might literally not process that you’re there until they’re already turning into your lane or pulling out in front of you.
This becomes way more of an issue in bad weather, at dusk, or in busy areas where there’s already a lot going on visually.
But Let’s Be Real Here
Before you go trading in your black BMW because you’re convinced it’s a death trap, remember that car color is probably pretty low on the list of things that actually determine whether you crash.
Things like not texting while driving, paying attention to the road, not tailgating, and having working brakes are way, way more important than what color your car is.
Plus, newer cars have daytime running lights and automatic headlights that help make you more visible regardless of what color you picked.
And honestly, if you’re a good defensive driver who stays alert and follows traffic rules, you’re probably going to be fine no matter what color car you drive.
The Bottom Line
Look, this research is interesting and all, but it’s not like driving a white car is going to save your life and driving a black car is going to kill you.
It’s more like if you’re already torn between a few different colors, maybe the safety data could be one tiny factor to consider. But it definitely shouldn’t be the main thing driving your decision.
At the end of the day, how you drive matters way more than what color you’re driving. But it’s still kind of fascinating that something as simple as paint color might actually make a small difference in crash rates.
Who knows, maybe in a few years all the safest cars will be bright yellow and we’ll all look like a bunch of taxi cabs driving around. Could be worse, I guess.
