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color correlates to accident avoidance?

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Old May 3, 2005 | 07:44 PM
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Default color correlates to accident avoidance?

http://www.drivers.com/article/707/


interesting. i think I know what to make of it.. not sure though!
Old May 3, 2005 | 07:47 PM
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here is an example of a -bad conclusion- drawn from only part of the data (imo!)

stupid!


http://www.vij.com/archive/buying_silver.html
Old May 3, 2005 | 08:01 PM
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hello yellow

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/w..._paintjob.html
Old May 3, 2005 | 08:10 PM
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Interesting, but I recall another study, done in the US back in the '60's or 70's when the NHTSA and others were looking at visibility of colors for emergency vehicles, where that odd shade of yellow-green that is at the peak of human sensitivity came out best.

What does it look like, you ask? Look at newer fire trucks. Many are painted red, of course, some are painted yellow, and some are painted that ugly green...



Red came out poorly for those with "normal" eyesight, and absolutely miserable for some varieties of colorblindness (about 12% of the population, IIRC).

Following closely behind that high-visibility yellow-green were yellow and white.

Dark tones were poor, no matter what the color, and the pale blues, silvers and greys were poor in areas that have lots of rain or fog because they would just 'vanish.'

Of course a lot of this depends on the normal background colors of the environment, too.

The visibility, for example, of "forest green" might be quite different in the Pacific Northwest as opposed to Kansas...

Urban backgrounds tend towards greys blacks and whites (look at the colors used for "Urban Camouflage" by the military), so one might assume that those colors would be poor in that environment.

I don't know how many remember the Chrysler Corporation vehicles that came out in the '70's in flourescent orange, green, yellow, and chartreuse, but they were actually advertised as being more safe because of that early visibility study...they were also hideous...

Next time you are driving down the road, look into the distance and see which colors of vehicles a noticible/visible at the farthest distances. What are your conclusions?

A lot will depend on your driving environment.

(In my profile are a TCM and PW xB parked next to each other on a normal sunny day...which stands out more - is more easily visible?)

I don't know why or how, but I suspect the new study might be flawed in some subtle way.
Old May 3, 2005 | 08:12 PM
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It seems to me that, if silver cars -are- in fewer accidents and less severe accidents, it's because the silver car driver tends to be more conservative, not aggressive; compared against drivers of red and yellow and even white cars.

But to -infer- that -silver is "safer" is, I think, an error of logic quite interesting in itself. Logic is a rare commodity!



What color car is the safest?
Kevin Hogan
I've shared with you on numerous occassions that everything in your environment influences your behavior. Now, here's something that can save a life that you probably didn't know.

Almost everyone drives a car. Which color car is the safest?

Silver cars are much less likely to be involved in a serious crash than cars of other colours, suggests a new study of over 1000 cars.

People driving in silver cars were 50 per cent less likely to suffer serious injury in a crash compared with drivers of white cars, the research in New Zealand found.

White, yellow, grey, red and blue cars carried about the same risk of injury. But those taking to the roads in black, brown or green cars were twice as likely to suffer a crash with serious injury.

Sue Furness, at the University of Auckland, led the study but says the team does not know why silver cars appear safer. "We think it may be due to a combination of light colour and high reflectivity," she speculates.

She suggests that increasing the proportion of silver cars on the road might provide a "passive strategy" to cut car crash injuries.

"If there's proof that certain colours are safer and easier to see in all road conditions that might be useful to people in terms of purchasing a car," says Roger Vincent, of the UK Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. But he adds: "A lot of people will buy things purely on fashion."
Old May 3, 2005 | 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Tomas
Interesting, but I recall another study, done in the US back in the '60's or 70's when the NHTSA and others were looking at visibility of colors for emergency vehicles, where that odd shade of yellow-green that is at the peak of human sensitivity came out best.

Red cam out poorly for those with "normal" eyesight, and absolutely miserable for some varieties of colorblindness (about 12% of the population, IIRC).

Following closely behind that high-visibility yellow-green were yellow and white.

Dark tones were poor, no matter what the color, and the pale blues, silvers and greys were poor in areas that have lots of rain or fog because they would just 'vanish.'

Of course a lot of this depends on the normal background colors of the environment, too.

The visibility, for example, of "forest green" might be quite different in the Pacific Northwest as opposed to Kansas...

Urban backgrounds tend towards greys blacks and whites (look at the colors used for "Urban Camouflage" by the military), so one might assume that those colors would be poor in that environment.

I don't know how many remember the Chrysler Corporation vehicles that came out in the '70's in flourescent orange, green, yellow, and chartreuse, but they were actually advertised as being more safe because of that early visibility study...they were also hideous...

Next time you are driving down the road, look into the distance and see which colors of vehicles a noticible/visible at the farthest distances. What are your conclusions?

A lot will depend on your driving environment.

(In my profile are a TCM and PW xB parked next to each other on a normal sunny day...which stands out more - is more easily visible?)

I don't know why or how, but I suspect the new study might be flawed in some subtle way.

Appreciate your input. I'm glomming in a lot of disparate "sources" of color info. Some is good. A lot seems to be badly thought out.


Here's a good bit which supports, nearly exactly your points.

I am -red green- color deficient. Orange, even flourescent orange, is not so eye-catching to me as flourescent yellow.

Red, for -me- is a rich, dark color at best.

http://www.policeone.com/police-prod...rticles/47412/
Old May 3, 2005 | 08:55 PM
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Here's a 2 page SL xB thread that discusses these same issues:

Is it the color? [do camo green xBs get hit more often?]
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...white+color%2A

Studies finding that silver colored cars are safest is old news; but I tend to think Tomas is right: white is more visible than silver.

RPM
Old May 3, 2005 | 10:31 PM
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no color is safe from the ignoramus' that flood our roads

sigh...
Old May 3, 2005 | 10:45 PM
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I always drive with my lights on, in my camo xB and my wife's silver Town&Country minivan and silver Prius and my maroon Outback. The Prius and the Outback make it easy, because the lights turn off automatically when you shut off the car. Actually, the fail-safe lights timer on the van also shuts off the headlights, 4 minutes after you turn off the ignition. The VW Golf that the xB replaced had DRLs.

The xB being new, I did forget to turn the lights on a couple of weeks ago (during the day). And that was the time that a driver at an intersection turned right in front of me, as if she just didn't see me.
Old May 3, 2005 | 11:51 PM
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The xB being new, I did forget to turn the lights on a couple of weeks ago (during the day). And that was the time that a driver at an intersection turned right in front of me, as if she just didn't see me.
I remember a study a number of years ago that indicated that driving with your headlights on during the day was good for about a 17% reduced chance of having an accident.

With regard to color, I chose yellow for the reason that in our rainy Northwest as Tomas said in his post grey tones tend to dissapear in the haze, fog, mist, rain...whatever....silver being kinda, sorta grey (xB silver is called Thundercloud Grey Metallic for cryin' out loud!) I'll stick with the Solar Yellow.
Old May 4, 2005 | 12:18 AM
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When I was in the USAF in the '60's they 'trained' us to drive with our headlights on.

For the twenty-five years I was a engineer/manager in the Bell System, they strongly pushed driving with one's lights on.

It is habit for me to reach down to turn the lights on just before I shift into gear the first time, and habit for me to turn the lights off when I turn off the ignition.

Occasionally someone will flash their headlights at me during the day, or try to semaphore to me that my lights are on. I nod "yes" and mouth "thank you" and am reassured that at least they saw me, which was the whole reason for the lights... :D

Too bad it is such a pain to make the US xB's have decent running lights. I should contact the folks in Vancouver, BC, CA to see how much hassle it would be to have them do the conversion on mine...
Old May 4, 2005 | 12:51 AM
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while this is interesting, anyone with a background in psychology would note that correlation does not equal causation
Old May 4, 2005 | 01:27 AM
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pics from

http://www.newbeetle.1hwy.com/gallery.html


A few months ago in traffic there was a yellow beetle running along with the traffic. It stood out really well among the -various silver cars that dominate the auto landscape.
I watched that car on US1, grow distant, turn, run along a parallel street to US1. I could see it and follow it's movement from a quarter or half mile away, long after the other cars around it were invisible.

Yellow is a rare color these days. We understand why. Cute cars can carry off yellow OK. Instead of slaving to ho-hum fashion or "good taste" we get seen better in a white or yellow car



If the yellow RS2 had not come along I would've gotten the xB in white- and be driving with my lights on (nod to Tomas!)

Now, with the yellow RS2 I don't -feel- the need to use my headlights during the day.

-The greatest annoyance I got in driving a champagne pale gold Chrylser LHS was the marked tendency for other drivers to pull into my path. For instance, going along a major artery fed from residential side streets... at rush hours the side streets often nearly each one have an anxious driver wanting to turn into my path. One recent day those clowns -all did it-: bam CUT OFF. Next sidestreet, too. FOUR of them in under a mile. I did not have the headlights on.

Since getting the RS2 not a single other driver has cut into my path.

Quite a contrast in results, that... and too, the old black Model T I used to drive got destroyed- and I nearly got killed by a -driver who "saw" me but did not really -see-. She turned into my path in her left turn just as I overtook her. So... headlights ON, folks. Or get a yellow car.

Could it be simple enough to wire an auto-off for the headlights into the ignition cirucuit? I don't know about modding Scion electrics, but in general this could be done with a a relay switch simply enough and so, just leave the xB headlights "on" all of the time.

The RS2 has fine-enough running lights I think. How are the others different? Well, the -color-!

Early on I wanted to get the BOP. It's a beautiful color. But, as I began to see xBs on the road, at night.. I found that the dark xBs are nearly invisible at night! All the dark colors look -black- at night. Plus, the -strange shape- of the xB seems to reinforce this general low-visibility effect. Sort of a "suspension of belief" effect, which I understand -was a causitive factor- in that accident when the Lexus turned into the path of the Model T. She _saw_ me but NO.. the strange black T did not -register- in her mind. I -saw- her make eye contact with me. No matter.

This same thing happened to me years ago, too. I was driving a sky blue light metallic Visa wagon. The guy -pulled out from the side street at the last moment. He'd -seen me- yet... a brain disconnect happened anyway. The blue Vista did not ARREST his attention. I ran off the road and into a residential front yard to avoid him by mere feet. The man stopped and -apologized profusely- (how rare and good of him. He explained:

"I don't know what happened. I -saw you- long before you got to the corner but somehow it did not register"

Now, I'd not like to see the driver who -fails to register a large YELLOW or WHITE box bearing down on his car. So far I've not even had a hint of "situational blindness" affect me in this yellow box.

Google Image Search is a great friend for us. Look how rare are pictures of "yellow scions" at this early juncture.

http://images.google.com/images?q=ye...&sa=N&filter=0



Am excited to be getting mooncaps for this RS2. -Another eye-arrester-, those smooth disk mirror caps in polished stainless steel. Not that I need it, but every such -stick out- accessory can only help. Well, the wheelcovers will be styling for a purpose. I have -not yet seen baby moons on any Miami auto in traffic. Rare effect, which, like yellow paint, shall always be rare and arresting to the eye.

In this regard, those ghetto spinner covers are a safety plus. See whut I mean?



OH the damn yellow smilies, too! Smilies are never gray.


PS to the folks with dark colored xBs: An under car lighting kit could be thought of as a -fully equal and unbeatable- "SEE ME AT NIGHT" safety measure. The style may or may not appeal to you (too juvenile?) But if it saves you an accident or running off the road to avoid broadsiding a situationally-blind driver, then why not be a peacock and be seen? Or would you rather be a peahen (drab, relatively, strangely invisible in a strange-shaped car at night)?
Old May 4, 2005 | 04:34 AM
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Am excited to be getting mooncaps for this RS2. -Another eye-arrester-, those smooth disk mirror caps in polished stainless steel. Not that I need it, but every such -stick out- accessory can only help. Well, the wheelcovers will be styling for a purpose. I have -not yet seen baby moons on any Miami auto in traffic. Rare effect, which, like yellow paint, shall always be rare and arresting to the eye.
I think your thoughts on visibility are well founded. Since I've had the RS2, several vehicles have stopped in their tracks while on the verge of pulling into my path.

About the wheelcovers:
Are you getting "baby moons" which fit over the center of the wheel (baby moons require clips the stock wheels don't have) or the "full moon" wheelcovers that cover the whole wheel? If the latter, which site are you ordering them from? I can't decide between a couple of styles of "full moons" I've seen on various sites. No fear that we'll run into one another. In Seattle, I'm as far away from Miami as I can possibly be.
Old May 4, 2005 | 07:10 AM
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Several of my recent vehicles have had an added reflective 'stripe' down the side, at roughly headlight high.

I plan to add that to my PW xB soon, and I plan to do it even with or just below the door handles. I plan to do it in white...

Old May 4, 2005 | 07:46 AM
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Originally Posted by jeanann
Am excited to be getting mooncaps for this RS2. -Another eye-arrester-, those smooth disk mirror caps in polished stainless steel. Not that I need it, but every such -stick out- accessory can only help. Well, the wheelcovers will be styling for a purpose. I have -not yet seen baby moons on any Miami auto in traffic. Rare effect, which, like yellow paint, shall always be rare and arresting to the eye.
I think your thoughts on visibility are well founded. Since I've had the RS2, several vehicles have stopped in their tracks while on the verge of pulling into my path.

About the wheelcovers:
Are you getting "baby moons" which fit over the center of the wheel (baby moons require clips the stock wheels don't have) or the "full moon" wheelcovers that cover the whole wheel? If the latter, which site are you ordering them from? I can't decide between a couple of styles of "full moons" I've seen on various sites. No fear that we'll run into one another. In Seattle, I'm as far away from Miami as I can possibly be.

MidLifeScionCrisis made a thread where this is all covered mit pikturs
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58001

I'm waiting for full wheelcover moons from MoonEyes to arrive soon!

Maybe I should paint yellow smile faces on 'em if other Miami RS2 drivers "copy" me. As if I cared or we cared about others doing the same look!

cheers!
Old May 4, 2005 | 07:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Tomas
Several of my recent vehicles have had an added reflective 'stripe' down the side, at roughly headlight high.

I plan to add that to my PW xB soon, and I plan to do it even with or just below the door handles. I plan to do it in white...


just don't do the stripe in


picture from this site, is marked copyright
http://tinyurl.com/abd59]


OR do a buncha stripes and make a

yellowstripe!
me....

Tomas is bold and thinks clear and smart and sets me to act funny by the White stripe on PW.
Old May 4, 2005 | 06:47 PM
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Hehehehe...

SciFly, I had a white 3M reflective stripe on the sides of my white Ford Explorer,
and it actually worked nicely...even though it didn't break up the 'lines' of the
vehicle by being 'obvious,' it definitely showed up and caught attention in the
right conditions.

Actually, if the rocker panels weren't so low on the xB I'd put the reflective stripe
there because it would be 'hidden' from casual notice unless needed at night
(sort of blend into the existing lines of the body).

I still may do that - depends on how visible it would be when hit by headlights at
night. I'll have to 'test it out' a bit first to see.

(Glad you enjoyed the white stripe on a PW xB - it does sound, uh, "a bit odd." :D )
Old May 4, 2005 | 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by wedgiesaurus
while this is interesting, anyone with a background in psychology would note that correlation does not equal causation
or a background in any science. Absolutely correct.
Or said otherwise, correlation is a necessary,
but not sufficient indicator of causation.
Old May 4, 2005 | 07:38 PM
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Absolutely right, wedgiesaurus and Joehnn. Correlation and causation are not necessarily
related in any real way.

The classic example was a seminar talk I recall that cited that the increase in automobile
deaths in the 1960's through the 1970's corresponded almost precisely with the increase in
the number of soft drinks sold in aluminum cans...

This was given as an example of statistics being impressive but with no meaning... Remember,
"a wet bird never flies at night." *

While I will give SOME weight to the study, pending discovery of flaws in methodology, I will
give MORE weight to my personal observations and the observations of others I personally
trust.

_________________
* "The saying 'a wet bird never flies at night' was a catch phrase used by Jackie Vernon - a
stand up comic on the television in the 70's. You're probably not old enough to remember him
- but he had a very dry humor and never smiled. Think he might also have been the one that
said 'It's bad luck to blow-dry a wet raccoon.'"





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