They say you can tell a lot about a person by the type and colour of car they drive.
My first car - an ex-taxi I bought off my Dad was (as you would expect) black.
Then came my more family friendly but perhaps less style friendly Yellow Renault R12.
It was the car that bought me back to Bunbury after a stint of living in Perth.
Nowadays my colour of choice depends on what day it is. As you can imagine, driving lots of different cars kind of goes with the territory of my work.
According to a 1997 survey by RAC, colour in particular, sends a clear message to other motorists.
For instance:
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White - distant, dutiful, aloof and methodical.
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Red - outgoing and impulsive, prefers spontaneity and creativity, easily bored.
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Silver - associated with style and success, but can tend towards pompous.
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Blue - team-player, sociable, but lacking imagination.
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Green - class-conscious and traditional in outlook and short on originality.
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Grey - expresses understated taste, safe and cautious.
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Black - first choice of success-driven and ambitious; a conspicuous statement of status.
Which one are you? Do you think the psychological profile is a good match? Email me your thoughts.
Given I drive all sorts of different colours, reckon I must be ambidextrous.
Aside from personality, another big factor driving car colour selection is safety.
Many people have this perception that some colours are safer than others.
In fact, there's a lot of study to show that it's the contrast between the colour of the car and its background that has the biggest impact on visibility.
For instance, I bet you've heard someone say that white is the safest car colour because it's the easiest to see.
However on an overcast day or during rain or fog, a white car actually provides very little contrast and therefore visibility.
The answer to improving safety on the road, regardless of car colour, is to turn your headlights on during the day.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) found the distance an oncoming vehicle could be detected increased from about 630m with headlights off to over 1430m with headlights on.
So there you have it - lights, not colour, makes it easier for your fellow drivers to spot you on the roads, therefore reducing the chance of a crash.
