Paint color and safety / visibility

[MikeS]

Since safety was what lead me to a fusion in the first place ( www.IIHS.org), it seemed reasonable to put some thought into exterior paint color and how it might affect safety.

 

After googling this an hour or so, I came across many different articles & studies which suggested that lighter cars (white in particular) was the safest pick due to increased visibility at night.

 

I also came across some conflicting things about some other colors.

 

Any anyone else done similar research? Any conclusions other than 'white is safest'??

 

My 2nd pick if I couldn't get white would have been the light silver color.

 

Mike

[Upstream]

I looked into color visibility before buying my Fusion. Different studies have identified different colors as the safest.

 

Consensus is that light, bright colors are more visible than dark, muted colors. So white, silver, or fire-engine red are typically more visible than black, dark gray, or maroon.

 

Some studies say that white is most visible (but sometimes is hard to see in snowy weather) and some studies say light silver is most visible because it is reflective (but sometimes hard to see in foggy weather). Bright colors like bright yellow, bright orange, or bright red are less visible at night than white or silver, but don't get hidden as easily in fog or snow (which is why those colors are often used by emergency vehicles).