When you purchase a new car, you likely have a preference regarding color, but that preference probably has nothing to do with safety. The fact is that research suggests the color of your car can play a role in how likely you are to be in a car accident. Read up, and next time you’re in the market to buy a new vehicle, you may have a different perspective on its color. If you’ve been injured by a negligent motorist in a car accident, however, now is the right time to reach out to an experienced Texas vehicle accident lawyer.
What’s In This Guide
Considering Color
Extensive research out of Monash University in Australia found that all the following are true when it comes to the color of your car:
- It likely comes as a surprise to no one, but the safest car color out there is white – due to its visibility on the road. While cream, beige, and light-yellow cars come close, no color outranks white for safety. This safety rating holds true regardless of how light or dark it is outside.
- Another non-surprise is that black is the least safe color with an increase in risk rate of 12 percent
- Just below black cars come gray vehicles with an increase in risk rate of 11 percent.
- After gray cars come silver cars with a 10 percent increase and blue and red cars with a 7 percent increase in risk rate.
Additional determinations include:
- The danger associated with darker colored vehicles and vehicles that tend to blend in with the road (such as grey and silver) posed the greatest risk during daylight hours.
- The variance in risk factor decreases during twilight and night driving.
The study’s researchers point out that the risk factor related to your car’s color does not even compare with the risk factors related to dangerous driving practices. So, when you’re asking yourself which color cars have the most accidents, consider your options but remember that driver negligence is the factor that plays the most significant role in dangerous car accidents.
[Related Article] Holiday Car Accident Statistics & Ways to Stay Safe
Driver Negligence
Negligent drivers are unsafe no matter what color their cars are, and driver negligence comes in far too many dangerous forms.
Distraction
When motorists are distracted by their radios, their GPS systems, their phones, billboards on the road, or anything else, they increase the chances that they’ll cause dangerous accidents. The most serious driving distraction of all is texting, and the fact that it manages to combine all three categories of distraction into one alarming practice helps to explain why. When motorists text, their sight, hands, and thoughts are all focused on something other than driving safely, and that is very dangerous indeed. To better understand the risk factor, consider that, in the average of five seconds it takes to type or read a text, a motorist who is driving at highway speeds can travel about the length of a football field. That is a lot of distraction.
Exhaustion
There is a very good reason why professional drivers, such as truck drivers, are bound by careful regulations related to how many hours they can spend behind the wheel, and the reason is because drowsy driving is dangerous driving. In fact, motorists who are dangerously drowsy can experience some of the same types of impairment that drunk drivers do, including deficiencies in their cognitive, sensory, and physical abilities.
Impairment
Drunk drivers experience a decrease in impulse control and have a more difficult time making logical decisions, and when you couple this with the other impairments they experience, it packs a lot of risk into one extremely dangerous driving practice. Although there is no doubt about the danger associated with impaired driving, far too many motorists continue to embrace this illegal practice.
Speed
Excess speed is the double-edged sword of driver negligence – not only does it make accidents more likely but it also makes them more likely to be deadly. When motorists speed, they allow themselves less time to react safely to dangers encountered on the road. Choosing a safe speed is not only a function of adhering to the posted speed limit but also of adjusting your speed in accordance with the road’s condition.
Aggression
Aggressive drivers seem to pursue danger. They are known for engaging in multiple varieties of negligence at any given time, but pedal-to-the-metal speed is the hallmark of aggressive drivers. Some other telltale signs include:
- Tailgating
- Whooshing in and out of traffic
- Honking incessantly at other drivers
- Gesturing obscenely at other drivers
- Screaming expletives at other drivers
- Ignoring traffic lights, signs, and signals
- Passing dangerously
Aggressive drivers are easy to spot and are best avoided.
The losses You Face
If you’ve been injured by another driver’s carelessness, there can be considerable losses associated, including:
- The damage to your vehicle
- Your medical bills, which can start out very high and can continue mounting over time (especially if you have ongoing healthcare needs)
- Your lost wages (a loss that will be compounded if your earning potential is affected)
- Your physical and psychological pain and suffering, which can cast a negative shadow over every aspect of your life
Your knowledgeable car accident attorney will ensure that every category of your losses (or legal damages) is fully represented in your car accident claim.
Seek the Skilled Legal Guidance of an Experienced Texas Car Accident Attorney
In the end, the colors of the vehicles we drive can nudge the needle when it comes to risk factors, but this doesn’t compare to the risk associated with driver negligence. If a negligent motorist leaves you or someone you care about injured in a car accident, the formidable Texas car accident attorneys at The Patel Firm care about you and your case – and are standing by to help. We are here for you, so please don’t wait to contact or call us at 361-400-2036 for more information today.
