Does Vehicle Color Influence the Risk of Being Passively Involved in a Collision?

Background. Bright- or light-colored vehicles are sometimes regarded as safer because they are presumably more visible. We examined the effect of vehicle color on the risk of being passively involved in a collision. Methods. This paired case-control study used data from the Spanish database of traff...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2002-11, Vol.13 (6), p.721-724
Main Authors: Lardelli-Claret, Pablo, Juan de Dios Luna-del-Castillo, Jiménez-Moleón, José Juan, Femia-Marzo, Pedro, Moreno-Abril, Obdulia, Bueno-Cavanillas, Aurora
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data
Automobile accidents
Automobile Driving
Automobiles
Automobiles - statistics & numerical data
Brief Reports
Case control studies
Color
Humans
Light
Motor vehicle traffic
Protective effects
Risk
Spain - epidemiology
Traffic accidents
Traffic estimation
Vehicles
Weather conditions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background. Bright- or light-colored vehicles are sometimes regarded as safer because they are presumably more visible. We examined the effect of vehicle color on the risk of being passively involved in a collision. Methods. This paired case-control study used data from the Spanish database of traffic crashes. We selected those collisions from 1993 to 1999 in which only one of the drivers committed an infraction. The violators constituted the control group; the other drivers formed the case group. Information about the color of the vehicle and other confounding variables was also collected. Results. When white was compared with the remaining colors, a protective estimate was obtained (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.97; 95% confidence interval = 0.94-1.00). The results were similar for light colors (white plus yellow) compared with all remaining colors (aOR = 0.96; 0.94-0.99). The protective effect of light colors was specifically observed for open roads and under daylight conditions. It was stronger in conditions other than good weather (aOR = 0.91; 0.86-0.99) than in good weather conditions. Conclusions. Light colors (white and yellow) were associated with a slightly lower risk of being passively involved in a collision, although only under certain environmental conditions.
ISSN:1044-3983
1531-5487
DOI:10.1097/00001648-200211000-00019