Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PARIS, Dec 19 (AFP) - Silver is the safest colour for cars, while brown, black and green are the most dangerous, according to a study published in Saturday's issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The research, conducted in New Zealand, assessed the effect of car colours on the risk of serious injury in over 1,000 Auckland drivers between 1998-99.
Silver cars, thanks to their high visibility, offered a major reduction -- about 50 percent -- in the risk of serious injury compared with white cars.
The risk factor for white, the commonest colour for New Zealand cars, was about the same as for yellow, grey, red and blue cars, but darker colours were the least safe.
The University of Auckland study took into account the age, sex and educational level of the driver, and whether he or she had been using drugs or alcohol or had worn a seatbelt.
ri/rh
Health-transport-cars-safety-X%
COPYRIGHT 2003 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
