Best colour for car in India, Best car colour for safety in India
When buying a new car, choosing the colour of the car always has many people advising you to take this or that colour. We strongly recommend that you choose a White colour car. White colour car may not be the prettiest car or the white car may look dirtier than other colors when not washed, since mud splashes and dirt on the body will stand out more vividly than any other colour. But a white colour car is the safest car to buy in India and can be a life saver, just like airbags and ABS brakes, can prevent you from getting into accidents. Going by car accident research it has been concluded that a black color car is not safe, and that a black car is the most accident prone color you can have for a car.
A White colored car is the most visible car, especially in low light. For example, the distance a white colored car will be visible to an oncoming car or lorry in low light, will be at least 10 times more than a dark colored car. There are a lot of scientific studies regarding this which we will give further down this page. Further down on this page is also a report from BASF, one of the largest suppliers of Car paints in the World, giving statistics of the different color cars being sold in different countries. They say 39% of all cars built around the globe were painted white. In India, they say: "Compared to 2018 (43%), more customers opted for white cars in 2019 (47%). The color reflects heat, which translates into lower energy requirement for cooling, making it a good option in hot climates like India." So in addition to being the safest color car to buy, it also reduces the heat inside the car in hot climates.
To give an example of why a white car is the safest color car, let us take a real life situation. So to give an example, in low light, a lorry driver can see a white coloured car stopped on the road, due to say electrical problems and without lights, at a distance of 100 meters. In the same situation a lorry driver will see a black car only at a distance of about 20 meters, and he will have no time to brake and for sure a collision will take place. But for the white car, the lorry driver has enough time to apply brakes to avoid hitting a white car. The statistical report on color of cars and accidents given further down, also says that accidents involving dark colour cars were much more severe than those where a white or light coloured car is involved. This example shows why dark coloured cars gets into much more sever accidents.
Black cars are the worst for distance visibility. Other colour cars will have slightly more visible distance depending on how dark the colours are. Statistics from several countries (links provided below) show that white coloured cars are involved in the least amount of accidents.
To convince yourself, when you are driving around, watch how easily you can spot a white car in low light compared to other colour cars. White colour cars are also quickly noticeable on the rear view mirror or side view mirror. Many times most of us would have been in near accidents when changing lanes due to the fact that we did not see a dark coloured car in the rear / side view mirror. So be safe and choose a white coloured car. To some white colour car is beautiful, but for all a white car is the safest and best colour car to buy in India.
Car colour and accidents statistics
The biggest study in the world to find out the relation between a car's colour as a cause of accidents was done in Australia by Monash University's Accident Research Centre. They researched about 850,000 car crashes and concluded that car colour is a big factor in causing accidents, and that white cars were the safest because it was involved in the least amount of accidents. They also found that when a white car was involved in an accident, the accidents were less severe than when other colours were involved. To quote: "Low visibility colours having higher risks of more severe crashes”". They published their findings online in a paper entitled "An investigation into the relationship between vehicle colour and crash risk".
The notion that there is a relationship between car colour and crash risk may initially sound ridiculous, equivalent to the belief that red cars go faster. Nor is it likely that many people in the market for a new car would have ‘colour’ amongst airbags and electronic stability programs on their list of desired safety features. But please keep in mind, if you want the safest car, then choose a white colour car.
Here is a News link to this research carried out by Monash University in Australia: Black cars are up to 47 per cent more likely to be involved in crashes, research shows.
To quote from this article " ....... A 20-year study revealed black cars to be the most dangerous ...... The reason lies not in who is behind the wheel, but in the visibility of their vehicle, say the researchers. ..... Black, grey, silver, red and blue fail to stand out against the background of the road, scenery and other traffic. .... The team, from Monash University in Australia scrutinise police data on 850,000 accidents for information on the car, the time of day ......... they found black cars to be most accident prone ....... During daylight hours, they were up to 12 per cent more likely be in crashes than white vehicles, while at dawn and dusk, the figure rose to 47 per cent.
What is the highest selling car colour in India?
To quote from the report titled BASF India Color Report for Automotive Coatings - White still dominates 2019 automotive color distribution by one of the world's largest manufacturers of Car paints, BASF, who supply directly to the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Benz, BMW, Maruti, etc.:
"Mumbai, India - January 17, 2020 - Whether driving the Interstate highways of America, the Autobahn in Europe, or the Asian Highway Network, chances are, one will see more white cars than any other color on the road. This is one of the central results of the BASF Color Report 2019 for Automotive OEM Coatings. About 39% of all cars built around the globe were painted white. Behind that number is an interesting shift: Although white is the most popular color in every region, there are remarkable differences in the regional distribution. While in Asia Pacific almost every second car is painted white, only every third car in North America and EMEA is coated in this color.
Other achromatic colors – black, gray and silver – are the next three most popular colors. Together, they coat another 39% of the cars that rolled off the assembly line in 2019. This trend also counts for the most popular car segment overall: the SUVs. But the world isn’t just black and white. The other 22% of the world’s new vehicles were sprayed with chromatic colors in 2019. About 9% of the vehicles produced globally were blue, and 7% were painted red. Each addressing an emotional motive that goes with car ownership and individuality ...... In India Compared to 2018 (43%), more customers opted for white cars in 2019 (47%). The color reflects heat, which translates into lower energy requirement for cooling, making it a good option in hot climates like India.