Why your next car should be white!
A provocative headline, sure, and if all cars were white then the world and its roads would be pretty darned boring. But at the same time, I do believe that there is sound physics behind the statement. And that my decision to go with a white car over the last decade has saved my life more than once...
It's all about visibility, you see. I know this sounds obvious, but hear me out. In daytime, in great light, a white car is around 10% more visible than other colours. By which I mean that it will be spotted slightly more quickly in someone's peripheral vision and that this will reduce the risk of an accident.
In low light, think dusk, with the sun having just dipped below the horizon, through to actual night time, darker car colours (blues, reds, greens, and - of course - black itself) become largely invisible. When the colour of your car resembles a dull shade of grey (or worse) when not illuminated, it's hard to be seen against a low light background. Which means that visibility is then all about car lights - and then everyone's at the mercy of a blown bulb or two.
In contrast, a pure white car remains visible in all but the very darkest night, even without lights. Add in a full headlamp and side light set and you're then as safe as you can be.
And if all this sounds like me spouting off a pet theory, I have real world evidence. About a decade ago, I drove a silver Renault. Looked great in daylight, was nigh invisible in low light. I was driving back from dropping my daughter at school, at 9am on a dull, gloomy Autumn morning and I approached a junction, turning right (I'm in the UK, remember!) Glancing to my right I saw nothing urgently approaching. So I stared out into the road and was brought to a screeching halt by a car slamming its brakes on and shouting out the window at me that I must be blind and that I shouldn't be allowed to drive.
I had my side lights on, so did the car approaching. But the other, moving car was silver and very hard to make out against the background in one glance. Headlights would have helped, but it was ostensibly daytime, so just side lights is understandable. And although this is about me not seeing the other car, I daresay they couldn't see me that well either, at least until I poked my nose out into the road.
At least there wasn't a crash. But it was close. My pride was hurt, but all of this got me thinking about car colour, as you can tell. I would have seen a white car oncoming. And they'd have seen me better, making the mistake.
Over the last 8 or so years with a white car, there have been several occasions at tricky junctions when I'm convinced that other drivers, usually going too fast, only saw me and avoided me because of the colour of the car. Yes, on occasion it was me at fault, perhaps hesitating or reacting too slowly (as I get older), but I do think that giving myself the maximum chance of being seen is a great reason for buying a white car.
PS. It worked out with Toyota that white is also the cheapest colour to order/make, so there's a wallet saving too!
PPS. If you like this feature and want to support my work then please do so here via PayPal. Thanks.
Comments