Green cars unlucky?

[snopes]

Comment: When I was young, my father was a driving instructor, every couple of months somebody calling to book a lesson would ask if the car was green. When asked why they needed to know this the answer was always that green cars were considered unlucky. One woman who phoned had lost her boyfriend to a green car accident and in a separate incident she broke numerous bones having crashed a green car. Nobody asked if the car they would be learning in was any other colour, green was the only one considered off limits. I heard this claim again recently which reminded me, an internet search brings up a lot of info on nascar, where green is considered unlucky in the early stages.

Have you ever come across this before? I imagine all the evidence is anecdotal but it seemed so widespread that maybe there was a reason for it.

[BluesScale]

My SO will not buy a green car. She had borrowed 2 green cars. Both were written off while she was driving them. I traded a silver Carlton in for a Green Rover and had 3 major accidents in the Rover. I bought a white Skoda and so far, all has been well.

I gave the green car away to a friend who needed one. I haven't heard from her for quite a while but I am hoping that there are other reasons.

I appreciate that multiple anecdotes do not make evidence.

BluesScale.

[bjohn13]

Not sure how one would prove or debunk this myth.

The only correlation I can see is if 1) people who prefer the color green have a certain personality trait that makes them more susceptible to car accidents or 2) the color green acts as some kind of camoflauge that would make these cars less visible and therefore more susceptible to accidents.

I have a hard time believing 1, but 2 is something that could be explored. Where I live, during blizzards, white vehicles can be more difficult to see.

However, if I was to answer the OP as directly as possible, I'd say "false". I don't believe in luck in any way, shape, or form. What most people refer to as luck is actually short term variance. If this "luck" happens over the long term, then an external factor is contributing to its existance.

[Morrigan]

Does it matter if I want a green car? A green 'vette, to be particular. Hunter green.

I've been in accidents in both red and silver cars, so I say "bullshit" to this particular example.

It could be due to the factor that there didn't use to be quite as many green cars on the road. (Personal observation, though.)

Morrigan

[greenfrog78]

Kind of off topic but not completely, I have a green lighter superstition where I will not buy, carry or touch green lighters. This started after five of my brothers friends (and my brother) were busted for cannabis in one summer.

My superstition has rubbed off on friends, so I wouldn't be suprised if in five years someone is writing you saying "I've heard green lighters are bad luck for pot-smokers, do you know anything about it?" . I havn't heard of anyone anywhere having this supersitition so it can be credited to me .

I don't know if green cars actually are unlucky. But I do know that in NASCAR they are considered to be. Though Bobby Labonte did win a championship in a green car.

[hambubba]

We had green cars growing up. When I questioned my dad about this, he stated "they were cheaper" because it wasn't a desired color. So, factor in cheaper car, cheaper lifestyle, all the stereotypes of people in trailers who drive green cars, and yeah, maybe once upon a time it was true that green cars were involved in more accidents.

Ii find it interesting that green is once again fairly popular. I am even allowing myself the possibility that when I do buy a Jeep, it will be green.

Until I repaint it.

ham "our antiques were crap" bubba

My dad always buys green cars, and has never been in an accident for as long as I can remember. The first car I have a vague memory of is a green "Hornet", on the day it was going to the big junk yard in the sky...

But maybe it's different in Canada

[mcolakis]

I never heard this one. I drove a green Honda for 13 years and had only 2 accidents on the road in it: I got rear-ended once on an entrance ramp in a snowstorm, and I hit one deer (or it hit me). Plus a couple of scraped fenders in parking lots. Nothing big. I was able to put about 150,000 miles on it, too, and never had any major maintenance problems until the last few years, when it started burning oil.

What I did hear is that yellow cars were unpopular, because the color meant the car was a "lemon."

Originally Posted by bjohn13

The only correlation I can see is if 1) people who prefer the color green have a certain personality trait that makes them more susceptible to car accidents or 2) the color green acts as some kind of camoflauge that would make these cars less visible and therefore more susceptible to accidents.

I have a hard time believing 1, but 2 is something that could be explored. Where I live, during blizzards, white vehicles can be more difficult to see.

The accidents I've been in have all been in gray cars, and my mom has had several near-misses in gray cars (always the other driver's fault). Her theory is like what you suggest: that the color gray tends to render a car "invisible" to other drivers. I would say there may be something to the idea that a car of one color or another might be harder to see.

The last few years I've been driving a cherry red car, and I can say that no one's hit me (or almost hit me) yet. Hope I haven't just jinxed myself.

[NeeCD]

When I was looking for a new car in 2002, a friend of mine told be that green was unlucky for a car color. When I asked him why, he said something about British racing. (Since I ended up getting a blue car that looks black, it became a moot point, anyway.) I'll ask him about it again on Monday and see what he says about it.

[snapdragonfly]

My first car was an M&M green colored Datsun.

Three months after I got it, I totaled it. (I was not at fault, but my dad was as mad at me as if it was...I still have a scar on my knee!)

...so there's my singular of data for you.

[Eddylizard]

I've heard two similar UL's which I don't lend much credence to.

1. Drivers of metallic silver cars are much less likely to be involved in accidents. Tell that to my poor little Fiat, sitting outside my garage waiting for it's final tow to the scrapyard in the sky.

2. Red cars are much more likely to be pulled over by the police for traffic violations.

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

1. Drivers of metallic silver cars are much less likely to be involved in accidents. Tell that to my poor little Fiat, sitting outside my garage waiting for it's final tow to the scrapyard in the sky.

Silver is such a generic color. If this one is true it may be, as Hambubba pointed out, due to personality of people that drive silver cars. I see many silver sedans but not so many silver sports cars.

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

2. Red cars are much more likely to be pulled over by the police for traffic violations.

I have heard that red is very noticeable and so police are more likely to pay attention to red cars. I also see more bright red sports cars then sedans or SUVs.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

I did some searching on the internet for any research on auto accident rates by color. I looks like there was only one study on this subject done.

[DoubleNaughtSaleen]

The car in Bullitt is Hunter Green. Not so unlucky for Steve McQueen--it wasn't totally trashed jumping hills in SF! Ford brought back the Bullitt in green, blue, and black (IIRC) a few years ago.

My Saleen is silver. They made gold Mustangs that year, too. They're the rarest of all the 00s. There's a rumor of a Clove Brown fox body still in existence--now that's a rare color!

[bjohn13]

Originally Posted by RainyDaze

Silver is such a generic color. If this one is true it may be, as Hambubba pointed out, due to personality of people that drive silver cars. I see many silver sedans but not so many silver sports cars.

Actually, I think i was the one who said that, but you have put it in a way that actually makes me believe it is possible. However, I still believe that making a statement like "people with the personality trait that would desire a green car also tend to be more prone to car accidents" is stretching it quite a bit. How could somebody know this?

[Joostik]

The version I heard was that, statistically, people driving red cars tend to cause more accidents. Something about the personality of people prefering the color red. There is also the statistic that, in sports, teams in red shirts seem to win more often. Either because it makes the wearers more agressive or confident, or it intimidates their opponents.

[Die Capacitrix]

Originally Posted by bjohn13

Not sure how one would prove or debunk this myth.

The only correlation I can see is if 1) people who prefer the color green have a certain personality trait that makes them more susceptible to car accidents or 2) the color green acts as some kind of camoflauge that would make these cars less visible and therefore more susceptible to accidents.

I have a hard time believing 1, but 2 is something that could be explored. Where I live, during blizzards, white vehicles can be more difficult to see.

My parents brought me home from the hospital in a 1968 green VW fastback, very similar to this one (scroll down for pictures). The green is so dark that most people thought it was black, especially in overcast Seattle. And it probably blended in with the evergreens. I learned to drive on that car. None of us ever had a major accident in that car.

My dad rebuilt the engine in the late 70s and the odometer rolled over twice my parents finally got rid of it in 1990 (gave to a collector for parts).

Maybe the "unluckiness" of my Friday the 13th birth cancelled out the green car?

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by bjohn13

Actually, I think i was the one who said that, but you have put it in a way that actually makes me believe it is possible. However, I still believe that making a statement like "people with the personality trait that would desire a green car also tend to be more prone to car accidents" is stretching it quite a bit. How could somebody know this?

Opps. It seems several people made similar comments and I only gave credit to one person.