LONDON (Reuters) - Silver colored cars are less likely to be involved in a crash causing serious injuries, New Zealand scientists said Friday.
About 3,000 people die in road traffic accidents around the world each day but researchers at the University of Auckland said the risk of being injured in a silver car was less than in cars of other colors.
"Silver cars were about 50 percent less likely to be involved in a crash resulting in serious injury than white cars," Sue Furness and her colleagues said in a report in The British Medical Journal.
The researchers studied the impact of car color on the risk of a serious injury in a study of more than 1,000 drivers in New Zealand between 1998 and 1999.
About half the drivers had been involved in a crash in which one or more occupants had been admitted to hospital or died while 571 had not had crashes and acted as a control group.
After taking into account factors such as the age and sex of the driver, the use of seat belts, the age of the vehicle and the road conditions, color still had an impact.
The researchers said there was an increased risk of a serious injury in brown cars and the odds were also higher for black and green cars.
They did not explain why car color has an influence but said previous research suggested that white or light-colored cars are less likely to be involved in a crash than cars of other colors.
"Increasing the proportion of silver cars could be an effective passive strategy to reduce the burden of injury from car crashes," Furness added.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...alth_cars_dc_1

 

all we need... another reason for there to be more silver Z's

 

yay. i have a silver g.

 

And I thought all they had in New Zealand were Hobbits and Elfs.
Apparently they also have a new breed called scientists.

 

So that's why I feel so safe and comfy in my Silverstone...

 

I was wondering the same thing silver cars a much safer..... (even tho they may blend in with the road serface)

 

hahaha what a wierd find. my car is ppw

 

it's not the color but the psychology of the person that buys a silver car that is safer. it's a safer color to buy because it's not racy and it doesn't draw attention or go out of style. The person buying that color statisticly will drive that way as well.

 

An interesting theory, I’m not sure I buy it, but interesting.

I have a Silverstone. I’m not sure I’m a safer driver by nature. I do respect the power and performance of the Z. When I drive it I am conscious that it is more powerful than my other car (Maxima) and try to drive accordingly.

BTW, after over 30 years of driving and owning more than a dozen, different types of vehicles, this is the first Silver car I’ve owned.

 

It isn't a hard and fast rule but a generalization drawn from the statistics. This is why it may not apply to you. This is the same argument as the red car and the tickets. Do red cars really get more tickets or is it that the person that buys a red car just drives alot faster. Marhot you are an experienced driver that has had numerous vehicles do you feel that the color of your car makes it safer?

 

This is another example of misguided statistical correlation...

If I show you that people with more than one pet have a higher chance of getting hit by a meteorite, would you believe it?

Be careful what you believe... the press will tell you anything that sells stories...

In case you're wondering what my basis is for this cynicism, read this book:

How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

 

Obviously not. However, I do believe red vehicles get more tickets.

Seriously, it all depends on the person, their personality, experience, and driving habits. An individual who drives a “sports car” probably drives faster than a person who looks at a car as mere transportation. But a person who drives sports cars & has experience driving high performance vehicles probably are safer drivers. As I previously posted, I’m very more conscious of my driving and other drivers around me when I drive the Z.

But all that said, RoadRagerInTherapy is also correct. One can play all type of “games” with statistics and manipulate them into prove what ever they want. You have to be very careful with statistics.

But we all have our own opinions, prejudices, and generalizations. That’s what makes shooting the bull on Internet forums so fun

 

RoadRagerInTherapy, agree 100%. Silver might be a more conservate color for buyers in a lot of cars, or some other reason stats prove this out.

I actually think silver/gray makes cars harder to see in a lot of situations against the pavement as they come toward you. I'd say for instance that bright yellow probably makes you much more visible to others, so you might be less likely to be pulled out in front of going down the road (just like fire trucks and school buses are the color they are for a reason).

That being said, I've bought a lot of black cars, so I obviously don't care enough to buy bright cars all the time

 

I totally agree with RoadRagerInTherapy as well, numbers can be made to say whatever you want in alot of cases. I think it's fun to look at this type of argument different ways and play a little devil's advocate. In that respect i totally agree with Marhot.