It used to be just a matter of taste and personal preference, but not anymore. The colour of the car you’re buying may yet become a weighty decision to make, along with car make, body type, engine, fuel, interior fixtures, and other aspects that you flip over in your mind for a considerable time.
Road safety matters, right? Thus, car colour matters. A study conducted by Monash University’s Accident Research Centre shows that white cars are least likely to get into an accident, while other studies rank yellow as the safest car colour.
Aside from the safety rating of colours, we’ll look into other reasons why your car’s paint should merit some serious thought from you.
What car colours are considered safe, which ones are unsafe, and why?
Of course, cars don’t figure in smashups solely due to their paintwork, that’s absurd. A white car with a drunk driver behind the wheel will have a higher risk of crashing than a black car with a capable person driving it.
The Monash study, which was based on data gathered in Victoria and Western Australia, ranks white as the safest car colour, with black as the most dangerous. Yellow, cream, and beige rank close to white as colours that are easier to see because they stand out at night or under low-light conditions. Even during the day, they contrast well with the road.
Black is the exact opposite, blending well with its surroundings at night. During the day, it still blends with the road, as do other dark-coloured cars, like grey and blue. Curiously, you’d think that silver aligns more with white, but no, it ranks third in the dangerous car colours lineup. The reason is the same; it blends with the road more easily, affecting its visibility from other drivers.
The same study correlated darker car colours with higher risks of more severe crashes. You may also read about the common causes of vehiclular accidents from our previous article.
What car colours will more likely get stolen?
Various studies were done to find out which car colour has the higher risk of theft, and the results differed significantly. One study ranked orange as the most likely colour to get hijacked, while another said green. Still other studies said it’s black, blue, and grey/silver, in that order, please.
The reason for the variable result could be that tastes and trends are ever changing, even in the black market. The location of the study will also matter; for instance, a study done in a more ‘conservative’ city or country will prefer more discreet hues.
Digging into the car thieves’ psychology, though, will tell us that carjackers will likely go for the higher-value car colours, including white, black, grey, and silver. Why? Aside from the fact that they’re more inconspicuous and easier to sell, they’re also the most popular car colours and the best at retaining their residual value. Read what the Kelley Blue Book says next.
How does car colour affect resale value according to the Kelley Blue Book?
White, black, silver, grey, and their countless variations along the spectrum (e.g., pearl white, metallic black) jostle back and forth to claim the top spots of the most in-demand car colours. High demand equals high market value. For this reason, the Kelley Blue Book lists these car colours as the best to buy if you’re looking for cars with high retained value in the used car market.
Of course, there are exemptions, like the bright orange C8 Corvette or maybe green Nissan Pulsar, but they are just that, exemptions.
For timeless and enduring value, classic car colours (and non-colours like white and black) consistently rank high, regardless of car body type and market segment classification.
Do certain car colours get more cops on your tail?
You’ve probably seen this in a movie scene: a speeding red car in a heart-pumping chase with cops. Or hear about a friend complaining that his car receives more than its fair share of traffic and parking tickets just because it’s a flaming red, attracting the cops’ attention more than any other colour.
Well, red actually comes in second, but it is white that gets the top honours. The fact is that automakers roll out more white cars than any colour. White cars comprise 38% of global car production because that’s where the demand is. Black is a distant 19% in production, followed by grey and silver. More white cars are on the road, so it’s statistically the car colour with the highest probability of being flagged down or pulled over. What about the red colour coming in second? That red is eye-catching (especially to the cops’ eyes) could have some grain of truth in it, after all.
So which car colour should you get?
It’s all up to you. The colour of a car does not pre-destine it to get involved in road accidents and car theft or invite more tickets from the cops. It’s not the colour alone—it’s people and how they perceive colours.
Still, it’s good to know about these studies and how your car colour affects people’s behaviour and actions.
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