silver is the safest choice

Silver was the most popular car color in the United States, Europe, and Asia last year, according to the most recent DuPont Global Color Popularity report, and its popularity doesn’t appear to be waning. Silver is a safe choice, in more ways than you’d think. Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand report in the Christmas issue of The British Medical Journal that silver vehicles are less likely to be in a car crash involving serious injuries than other-colored autos. Looking at more than 1,000 drivers involved in crashes between 1998 and 1999, Sue Furness and her colleagues found an approximately 50 percent reduction in the risk of serious injury in silver cars compared with white cars, even taking into account factors that could affect the results, such as seat-belt use, vehicle age, and road conditions. Brown cars carried the highest risk of serious injury, and black and green cars also had higher risk. Yellow, gray, red, and blue cars carried risks similar to white. The researchers had no explanation for their finding, but it’s speculated that silver, being a light color and highly reflective, may make cars more visible on the roadway. So if you are looking for a new vehicle, perhaps silver is golden.

This news brief appeared in the Random Data column of the Boston Globe’s Health/Science section on 12/23/2003.