Car Color & Crash Risk in Ocala, Florida
Many factors go into your risk of getting into a car accident. Some of these factors are outside your control. For example, you cannot control whether other drivers on the road are intoxicated.
However, other crash factors are within your control. For example, putting your phone away while driving can significantly reduce your odds of causing a distracted driving accident. According to some studies, you can also influence your crash risk by choosing the right color for your car.
If you’ve been injured in a collision in Ocala, FL,Allen Law Firm, P.A.. is here to assist. Contact our law firm today at (352) 351-3258 for a free case evaluation with an experienced Ocala car accident lawyer.
How Our Ocala Car Accident Attorneys Can Help After a Collision
Allen Law Firm, P.A. has been a fixture in the Ocala, Florida personal injury legal community since 2007. Our Ocala car accident lawyers have over 100 years of combined legal experience helping injured victims.
If you suffer harm in a car accident, our personal injury attorneys will provide the following:
- A free initial consultation to explain your right to compensation under Florida law
- Legal staff with former insurance claim adjusters who know how insurers think
- Aggressive representation to pursue the maximum compensation available
A car accident can cause serious injuries and permanent disabilities. Contact Allen Law Firm, P.A. for a free consultation to discuss your car crash injuries and assess your claim for compensation.
When Might Car Color Affect Crash Risk?
According to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), almost all car accidents result from errors committed by drivers. Environmental factors only play a primary role in about 2% of crashes, or roughly 52,000 crashes in the U.S. each year.
Car color will probably not cause a driver to alter their driving. In other words, another driver is unlikely to tailgate you because of the color of your car. But car color could affect the ability of other drivers to see your vehicle. Specifically, certain colors might be more likely to “disappear” due to darkness or glare.
Florida’s 2021 Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report reports that most traffic accidents happen on clear, sunny days. These crashes could set the stage for losing a highly reflective car in the sun’s glare.
Similarly, roughly 24% of deaths and 7% of injuries happened at night on unlit roads, according to the 2021 Crash Facts report. At least some of these crashes could have occurred when a driver failed to spot a dark-colored vehicle.
Research Into the Effect of Car Color on Crash Risk
Traffic researchers have conducted two major studies about the connection between crash risk and car color. These studies produced very different conclusions about the relative risks for various vehicle colors.
The New Zealand Study
Scientists from the University of Auckland looked at roughly 1,150 car accidents in New Zealand between 1998 and 1999. They cleaned the data to control for confounding factors such as the driver’s age, their history of drug and alcohol use, and the average time they spent driving each week.
Even after eliminating these factors, the New Zealand study still found that car color played a role in the likelihood of a crash. Specifically, the study used white cars as the standard for crash risk.
They found that black, green, and brown cars were almost twice as likely to crash as white cars. They also found that gray and silver cars were about half as likely to crash as the standard white vehicle.
The researchers did not pose a hypothesis attempting to explain the link between crash risk and automobile color.
The Australian Study
Scientists at Monash University in Australia reviewed crash reports for over 855,000 injured drivers spanning 17 years. After adjusting the data to account for lighting conditions, crash locations, and vehicle types, the data showed a statistically significant increase in risk for silver, gray, red, green, and blue cars.
The study also found a decreased risk for orange, faun, cream, yellow, and mauve cars. But this decrease in risk was not statistically significant enough for the researchers to say it was a real effect rather than random noise.
What Is the Relevance of Car Color and Crash Risk in Ocala, FL?
The Australian study’s conclusions about silver and gray cars conflict with those of the New Zealand study. One study found these colors significantly safer than average, while the other found them significantly more dangerous.
The studies agreed on the effect of green cars. They have an increased crash risk in both studies.
But are these studies relevant when someone gets into an accident in Ocala? Regardless of the color of the vehicles on the road, drivers always have a legal duty to exercise reasonable care. When they fail to meet this standard of care, they have acted negligently.
In other words, a judge or jury applying negligence law would be highly unlikely to excuse a driver for hitting another car simply because of the accident victim’s car color.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Ocala Car Accident Lawyers
A car crash can happen anytime, regardless of your car color. Contact Allen Law Firm, P.A. at (352) 351-3258 for a free consultation to discuss your car accident and the compensation you can pursue for your injuries.
