Community Chat

[Evie2004]

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@aubnwa01 wrote:

I had a 1979 Chevy Malibu coupe in silver with black leather interior that I bought new & owned for 7 years & in those 7 years, I think I offed about 7-8 birds.   It was like the car was invisible to birds & they'd fly right into the side of it as I was driving or into my path & I'd smack them with the front end or the windshield, it was the weirdest thing!  Id never hit birds before that car & haven't hit any since & I even had another silver car, a 2003 Forester that I owned for 14½ years, so don't know if it was the color of that Chevy or the shape that made it so stealthy for birds.

Current car is a 2017 Forester in Sepia Bronze Metallic, which is sort of am metallic dirt color!

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@aubnwa01  We LOVE our Subaru Crosstrek..hope to drive it a very long time! 

I think the color is Blue Pearl! Enjoying it's great MPG!!!

[Moonchilde]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

Lots of roads are concrete, so the asphault color wouldn't matter.

What I find astonishing is that many cars don't have the auto lights.  At least running lights--even in daytime.  And lights that don't turn on when it's dusk --automatically.  

Those are the cars that are hard to see.

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@Lucky Charm, I’m not sure if I’m understanding what you’re saying. Do you think every driver, in all weathers and seasons, even sunny days, should always drive with running lights on?

If so...good luck with that. 

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@Moonchilde

All 3 of our vehicles have lights that come on automatically as soon as you turn the key in the ignition.  Be it the 15+ year old vehicle or the 2017, either running lights and/or headlights come on even on a bright sunny day.

I thought that auto manufacturers were making it 'standard' for whatever reason (safety?).

What surprises me the most, is that headlights don't come on automatically at dusk.  I see people leaving shopping centers and driving down the road without any headlights on--pitch black out---late at night. 

Obviously, the parking lot or perhaps the street is lit up well with street lights, and they don't realize they don't have their headlights on.

You can be ticketed for driving at night without headlights.  

You can be ticketed for driving in rain without headlights on.  Or ticketed for driving through construction zones without headlights on.  Or ticketed driving through tunnels without headlights on.  

Different states have different laws.

I have no problem seeing cars in daytime/daylight without lights on.  The state I'm licensed in does check your vision when you renew your license as I'm sure most, if not all states do.  I do a lot of driving, even at night, and wouldn't if I didn't feel I could see clearly enough.

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@Lucky Charm, I wasn’t meaning to suggest that you personally might have vision issues; you also weren’t the only person to mention vision-related issues - colors of cars, etc. 

I do think there are different laws and requirements in different states. There is no law in my state regarding headlights except that you must use them if you need your windshield wipers.  I just scanned our handbook and while they make suggestions, the only law is regarding windshield wipers and headlights in rain/fog/dust/snow,  etc. We must use headlights from 30 min after sunset to 30 min before sunrise, and if we cannot see 1000 feet.

There are no Federal laws regarding running lights, including making them mandatory on all cars. Manufacturers actually had to get govt permission to put them on cars, but the govt does not require you to use them (I just looked all of this up). GM started in 1995 but Honda only started in 2006.

I think most cars now have an Auto setting for headlights coming on At dusk and most people just leave their setting as “auto” - but you have to take it off of Auto if it rains in the middle of the day, it’s foggy in daylight, the highway is marked “use headlights next 5 miles” and etc and then remember to put it back on auto, so it can’t ever be foolproof.

[nrm]

My Toyota is Magnetic Gray. I love the color. I also keep my headlights on auto. 

[ECBG]

@Lucky Charm,We don't have any concrete roads here. Just some driveways.

Our roads wind around the mountains and the morning fog can be quite thick, hence the name "Smokey Mountains".  The roads are quite dangerous with the long shadows.

[Twins Mom]

The problem with running lights is that most of them only turn on front lights, nothing in rear. If it’s foggy, rainy, etc. one needs to be seen from the rear too. Thanks to posters who brought up statistics on vision, etc. I don’t get why people don’t respond to flashing lights of oncoming drivers when they don’t have their headlights on in poor visibility conditions. It’s sad that people don’t seem to understand that people want others to be visible to avoid dangerous situations. It might be law to have lights on when wipers on in this state, but it’s often not heeded. And, yes, the more neutral cars do seem to blend in more, making it all the more important to be seen from front and rear.

[YorkieonmyPillow]

  Interesting thread, I never thought about it but it does make sense.

  My favorite colors for a vehicle are black and green - I also like two-tone cars.

[RainCityWoman]

I refuse to get any of the gray, black, or silver metallics, not in Seattle where we get a lot of gray weather. Too depressing.

[sidsmom]

My SO, who is a tenured Police Officer, chimed in when I asked.

First off, no...color has nothing to do with causing more stops

or causing more accidents.  Bad drivers are bad drivers.  If someone

continues to cause accidents, there’s a visual/perception issue.

But what he mentioned...if these drivers who claim they can’t “see”

silver, gray, asphalt colored cars beside them...if these vehicles

were, say, a $500,000 gray Bentley or $600,000 silver Lamborghini,

THESE cars would be seen.  Guaranteed.  

Suddenly the color isn’t the issue. The Honda Civic driver slows

down & suddenly ‘sees’ a 1/2 Million $ silver vehicle beside them.

Knowing their insurance will skyrocket after replacing a totalled Bentley,

they give that vehicle a wider berth. It’s like ‘selected hearing’. 

It’s like they pay more attention when the stakes are higher.

[Moonchilde]

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@RainCityWoman wrote:

I refuse to get any of the gray, black, or silver metallics, not in Seattle where we get a lot of gray weather. Too depressing.

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That, I can absolutely, totally understand. In the PNW I imagine it’s “any color but..”