[PatienceWins]

I thought white is the safest. Its easy to spot, especially in the night.

[Spinnerr]

Is it not that the yellow ones are the most dangerous? I remember reading somewhere that in a study of accidents on some European highways, it was always found that the probability increased when there was a Yellow colored vehicle was around.

I don’t remember the source, but it concluded saying that yellow color somehow distracts the driver, not the one riding, but the others on the road. The analysis was made after sieving through hours of traffic video recordings and keepin a tab on the vehicles involved in an accident.

[khoj]

bumping this old old thread

For some reason I find a whole lot of Silver coloured Swifts driving around with scraped fenders, doors and banged up bumpers. I have observed this is Bombay, Pune and Delhi NCR.

[Rehaan]

Also, lets not forget environmental conditions and perhaps also surroundings playing a part in this.

Owning a white car in a place that constantly had fog or snow would probably NOT be on the safer side of the spectrum.

cya
R

[thedreamcatcher]

General perception that red cars are more involved in accidents bcause, they are driven more rashly. Also read somewherre that insurance companies in some places charge higher premium for black and red cars

[amitk26]

Red- Black - yellow being unsafe etc is based on Foreign studies . Talking about India White Cars with Yellow number plate are most unsafe and likely to cause injury to others . White Cars with white number plate but with a flag pole on the front bumper are doubly dangerous and you should totally avoid a white car with red light on the top.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Also, lets not forget environmental conditions and perhaps also surroundings playing a part in this.

+1 to that.

Going through the thread, I wonder whether any distinction has been made on the time and where the accidents took place.

For example, spotting a car (any vehicle) for that matter in the day time is much easier as compared to night time (in my experience the twilight zone : dawn and dusk are the most difficult period to drive).

Further, in the night the tail lights and stop lights, including the (now) mandatory additional warning lamp, should help everyone on the road. It is the lack of attention paid to this safety feature (a tail lamp bulb may cost anything between Rs. 10/- to Rs. 100/- - miniscule when compared to the cost of the vehicle - yet how many vehicles on our road pay attention to replace fused bulbs?) that contributes to the accidents.

- speaking of lights, when so much advancement is made, why not have a lamp with two filaments, where the second one comes on when the first one goes out (a la' Pulsar) - that will atleast take care of immediate emergencies?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Red- Black - yellow being unsafe etc is based on Foreign studies . Talking about India White Cars with Yellow number plate are most unsafe and likely to cause injury to others . White Cars with white number plate but with a flag pole on the front bumper are doubly dangerous and you should totally avoid a white car with red light on the top.

, The white cars with the yellow ones appear wherever you go as if they are following you. The guys surrounding a white car with a red light on top anyways make sure that you totally avoid it altogether.

[alpha1]

OMG!
This is precisely what they talk about misuse of statistic and correlation/regression analysis.
You may find numerical correlation, but its finally your brain and logic which should be used to come to actual conclusions.

Oh I found one here: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/correlation.html

Neither regression nor correlation analyses can be interpreted as establishing cause-and-effect relationships. They can indicate only how or to what extent variables are associated with each other. The correlation coefficient measures only the degree of linear association between two variables. Any conclusions about a cause-and-effect relationship must be based on the judgment of the analyst.

Seems like the analyst in this case has a "regressive" brain.

[Guna]

Interesting topic.
When talking about which color is safe, there are two aspects IMO:

1. Some colours are easy to spot under bad lights, some are not. Some colours easily blend with the road colour and don't stand out, some colours cause glare etc
2. people with certain attitude, temperment (many times due to the age group) may have liking for some colours and it is the association of such people with these colours that may point to a statistcs indicating that these colors themselves are more prone to accidents, which is not exactly right. On the other hand, some colours may promt extra attention from other road users and this may induce certain type of behaviour in whover is in the drving seat, and ultimately become suseptible to cause accidents.

[Irish]

Saw a news in today TOI website. Another study advises that White colour is the safest whereas Black and Silver colours are less safer.

CHENNAI: Statistics can throw up a lot of surprises. Consider this: An Australian study that looked at data from 1987 to 2004 has shown that black cars are 12% more likely to be involved in accidents than white cars.

Research has shown that the link between vehicle colour and safety - brighter, more visible colours are safer - can be used to make roads safer. However, the state has failed to implement a project it adopted three years ago, in which accident statistics including vehicle colour along with 200 other details were supposed to be collected from all fatal road mishaps.

The GIS-based Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS) introduced in 2009 was supposed to be handled by the State Traffic Planning Cell (STPC).

Source & Full Article: Is your car colour safe? - The Times of India

Cheers!
Irish

[nitinbose]

White & Silver are the safest color as they're easily spotted. This would be followed by Yellow or Orange. Red is okay but the challenge is when the person is less attentive due to alcohol, drugs, sleep etc., Red color may not catch the attention.

Black, Dark Grey (mine), brown, purple, dark blue are difficult to spot. Above all they're also heat absorbers in summer! A dark colored car parked in the sun can be a furnace in a short while.

This is applicable mostly for the car turning to a major road or doing a U-turn, when only the sides are visible and other drivers must be able to judge and make conclusions.

I'm therefore seriously thinking of changing my fortuner color from Grey to white/silver. The only deterrant is the cost, ~100K!

[.sourov]

Never thought about this when I bought the car. Took silver as it looked best and I thought scratches will not be prominent on it.

But after reading this thread it seems I made a good decision.

[shankar.balan]

Wow. Interesting statistics indeed. I like my Silver vehicle very much because it doesnt show dirt and scratches as much as others.
From my memory I thought people who drive Red cars are highly aggressive whereas those who opt for White, Silver, Shades of Green etc are much milder overall!
Anyway Ive got Silver now so I shall quietly live with it and drive with extra care every day!

[Irish]

Few years back, I heard that GREEN color has the minimum visibility on the road as compared to other colors but now this study says that Black has the minimum visibility.

By the way, I have also experienced that Green color has minimum visibility during twilight.


Cheers!
Irish