Car Color & Crash Risk in Louisville, KY
A driver’s likelihood of getting into a car accident in Louisville, Kentucky, depends on many factors, including age, experience, and drug or alcohol use. Environmental factors, such as weather and road conditions, can also play a role. However, drivers have often speculated about a connection between car color & crash risk.
If an at-fault driver tries to blame your accident on your car color, our Louisville car accident lawyers can help. Call HJV Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyers at (859) 578-4444 to schedule a free consultation to learn more.
How HJV Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Car Accident in Louisville, KY
HJV Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyers provides high-quality legal representation to injured people in Louisville, KY. We have decades of combined experience fighting for our clients. Our Louisville personal injury attorneys’ dedication is evidenced by our success in recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for accident victims like you.
When you suffer a serious injury in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligent driving, our Louisville personal injury lawyers can assist you by:
- Listening to your explanation about your crash and explaining your options
- Assembling the records and evidence to support your case
- Filing an insurance claim and negotiating for a fair resolution
- Taking the other driver to court in Louisville, KY, if the insurer refuses a settlement
A car crash can have devastating physical and financial effects. Contact our Louisville car accident attorneys to schedule a free consultation to learn how we fight insurers and at-fault drivers for injury compensation.
Are Some Car Colors More Dangerous Than Others?
People have long speculated that certain car colors are more hazardous than others. For example, some speculate that dark colors may be less visible at night or that bright colors may cause glare on sunny days. Some of these stories even associate the color with the driver’s aggressiveness, suggesting that people with red or yellow cars tend to speed.
However, these stories are not rooted in science. A study conducted by the University of Dayton examined nearly 950,000 crash records. The researchers aimed to address issues identified in prior studies.
The crash data was filtered only to include:
- Collisions involving “conspicuity” to focus on crashes where visibility was a factor, and
- The color of the vehicle that was struck, because the at-fault driver’s car color would not have been a factor in a crash blamed on the visibility of the victim’s vehicle
The researchers compared the crash risk of each color to that of white vehicles. Ultimately, the study found no statistical correlation between crash risk and car color. The researchers proved that all colors are equally safe across all possible weather and lighting conditions.
Circumstances Where Car Color May Play a Role
The researchers acknowledged that some colors might be riskier in some conditions, but that risk is offset in other conditions. As a result, the risks cancel each other out.
For example, researchers noted that black cars may be less visible at night on an unlit road, but more visible in daylight. They also suggested that silver or white cars might be more likely to cause glare, making them more dangerous on sunny days. However, their ability to reflect light could also make them safer on cloudy days or during rainstorms.
Liability for Crashes in Poor Visibility
Importantly, poor visibility contributes to only a small percentage of crashes. Even when visibility contributes to the cause of a crash, driving behaviors are often the most significant factor.
For example, in many crashes that occur at night, the evidence may likely show that the driver was speeding, fatigued, intoxicated, or distracted.
Suppose a driver hit a black car at night on an unlit road. A driver who is driving at a safe speed and paying attention to the road should not hit any car, regardless of its color. Thus, while color may have played a minor role, the driver’s carelessness was the main factor. As a result, the driver in this example will still likely be liable for the crash victim’s injuries.
Contact Our Louisville Car Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Louisville car crashes rarely happen because of your vehicle’s color. Regardless, the other side may try to blame your car’s color as a contributing factor in the wreck to offset how much they owe you in compensation. We are well-versed in insurance companies’ attempts to use Kentucky’s pure comparative negligence rule in this manner and know how to counter these tactics.
Contact HJV Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your case. We can answer any questions you may have about our services and our contingency fee payment structure during that meeting. Our Louisville car accident lawyers are prepared to fight for the compensation you deserve.