eli5 “You’re more likely to be in an accident in a red car”

Question

I heard this statement and it confused me. The explanation was more red cars have accidents than other cars. But surely that doesn’t translate to “I personally am more likely to have an accident if I drive a red car than a blue car today”? Assuming there’s nothing inherently about red cars that makes them more likely to crash. I’m struggling with the maths theory behind it.

Edit to clarify my question: does the statistic that “red cars have more accidents” translate to the statement that “I, personally, all other things being equal, am more likely to have an accident if I drive a red car than a blue one”?

In: 10

Answer 1

I heard that claim back in the 70s when I was learning to drive. The reasoning I was given (which may be wildly incorrect) was that high-performance cars commonly came in red, cars like Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc. People in high-performance cars tend to drive like they’re in high-performance cars, i.e., recklessly. Also, red cars were (supposedly) easier for cops to see and write tickets to.

In real life, I don’t see why a car’s color would influence the number of wrecks. And as far as tickets go, nowadays the cop catches you on radar long before he can tell what color your car is.

I’d like to see some actual statistics on car colors vs wreck frequency. Assuming that those statistics exist and red is more dangerous, do the numbers change at night when car colors aren’t as obvious?

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Edit: I’ve been around a lot of school buses as a driver, driver trainer, and mechanic. The school bus yellow color was chosen for maximum visibility under the widest range of conditions. For example, black is easier to see in the snow than white is and white is easier to see at night compared to black. School bus yellow is visible in bright daylight, at night, in the fog and rain, in the snow, etc.

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Edit 2: Apparently, I’m full of shit. I found a study by the Monash University Accident Research Centre (Australia) that shows that different colors have different crash rates. Color does matter, but black is the most dangerous while white is the safest and red is in between. The study also answered my day vs night question.

https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/216475/An-investigation-into-the-relationship-between-vehicle-colour-and-crash-risk.pdf