Which Car Color is Safest?

At some point during the car buying process, every car purchaser has to ask themselves the question: which color do I want? Some may base their decision on their personal favorite color, others might want something that looks “fast”, like red. But one other factor to take into consideration when selecting your car’s color is safety. While not as important as safety features such as car cameras and sensors, the color of your car does have an impact on safety.

There are several reasons why your car color makes a difference when it comes to your overall safety. The most important factor is visibility. Many car accidents are caused by some kind of visibility issue, especially at night time when visibility is low and certain car colors are harder to see. Additionally, weather conditions such as snow or rain play a role in how difficult it might be for other drivers to clearly see your vehicle.

Here are the car colors that are typically harder to see on the road, and the colors that are safest.

Unsafe Colors

The unsafe car colors are, unsurprisingly, the ones that you would expect to be more difficult to see in low visibility situations. 

The most unsafe car color is black, as it blends in very easily with its background at night and in other situations where there isn’t a lot of natural light. Even during the daytime, the road itself is usually a dark grey shade. This means there is low contrast between the car itself and the road, increasing your odds of a potential accident. 

The next car color that has visibility concerns are grey and silver cars. While there have been some more recent studies that have found silver cars may be less of a visibility concern than we previously thought, there are others that found an increase in car accidents due to poor visibility for this color. 

Blue cars can have a wide range of colors, from light blues to dark blues, which makes this color a bit safer than black or grey cars. However, the blue cars with darker shades can find themselves with similar problems as the other darker colors. Additionally, blue cars can sometimes be harder to make out when put against the backdrop of a daytime blue sky. 

Finally, despite red cars being on the brighter side, there are many red colors on our roads such as stop signs, red lights, brake lights, and other road signs that can confuse other drivers. At night, the color red can sometimes appear darker to the human eye. This is known as the Purkinje effect. While these car colors have a small but noticeable uptick in the odds of an accident, you shouldn’t necessarily avoid purchasing a car with any of these colors. It’s just something to consider, especially when purchasing a car for a new driver.

Safest Colors

On the other hand, the safest car colors are typically the colors that are brighter. These colors are easier to see and have more of a contrast with the road and surroundings, decreasing the odds of another driver not being able to see them.

The car color with the highest contrast and brightness are white cars. These cars have a high contrast with the darker road color as well as the typical background environment you typically see on most roads. Plus, when driving at night, white cars are typically easier to see as they don’t blend in with the rest of the low visibility environment.

After white, the next safest car color is yellow. In fact, one study put yellow above even white as the safest car color. The reason for this is similar to white, as the bright yellow color provides a stark contrast to the rest of the road and backgrounds. This is partially why many taxis in the world paint their cars yellow, as it is a visually striking color that makes it extremely easy to spot from any distance.

The final colors that rank highly in safety and visibility are orange and gold. While these car colors are not extremely common, they share many of the same positive traits that make white and yellow cars safer. Mainly, their high visibility on the road and at night.

While car colors are not the end all be all of driver safety, they can make your car slightly safer to drive in. However, even cars that have highly visible colors can still be involved in an accident. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a careless or reckless driver and has been injured, call 1-800-411-PAIN and get the help you need! We will refer you to the attorneys that will fight to get you the compensation you deserve and the medical attention you need. If you have been hurt in an accident, call 1-800-411-PAIN, and we will guide you in finding you the best medical and legal professionals.