Car color is not typically to blame for a collision, even if a careless driver claims that it played a role. If you’ve been in a crash where car color is an issue in Columbus, GA, call a car accident attorney in Columbus, GA, from Mark Casto Personal Injury Law Firm at (706) 940-4030 for a free consultation.
Car accidents can happen in all weather and visibility conditions. In Georgia, you may experience dense fog, torrential rain, and dark streets, particularly on rural roads outside the city limits. As a result, drivers, insurers, and even traffic experts have wondered about a connection between car color & crash risk. Our Columbus personal injury attorney can help.
How Mark Casto Personal Injury Law Firm Can Help After a Car Accident In Columbus
Our law firm’s founder has over 26 years of legal experience fighting for the rights of injured people in Columbus, Georgia. He has a reputation in the legal community and among his clients for producing excellent results, with millions of dollars in compensation recovered for accident victims like you.
After you suffer a car accident injury caused by someone else’s negligent or aggressive driving, our Columbus personal injury lawyer can provide the following services:
- Reviewing your case and educating you about your legal rights
- Investigating your crash and the injuries you suffered
- Building a case against the other driver and filing an insurance claim
- Negotiating to resolve your case
- Filing a lawsuit if negotiations fail to produce a fair settlement
A car crash can cause injuries that temporarily or permanently prevent you from earning a living or meeting your own needs. Contact us and schedule a free consultation with a Columbus car accident attorney to discuss your crash and the injury compensation you may be entitled to seek.
Does Car Color Affect the Risk of a Columbus Car Crash?
Researchers have not found that any specific vehicle color is more dangerous overall. This means that cars of any color generally have roughly the same crash risk across all weather and visibility conditions.
One study conducted at the University of Dayton sought to reconcile several other papers that reached conflicting results. Previously, a study in New Zealand found that silver was the safest car color, while a study in Australia concluded that silver was the riskiest color.
The University of Dayton study focused on the color of the car driven by the driver who was found not to be at fault. This approach deviated from the previous studies, which considered both the victim’s car color and the at-fault driver’s car color. The rationale was straightforward: A car color is riskier if at-fault drivers are more likely to hit it.
Findings on Car Color and Crash Risk
The researchers concluded that all colors had the same basic risk across all conditions. In other words, if you drive a black car at varying times of day and night and in varying weather conditions, your overall crash risk is the same as it would be if you were driving a white car.
However, the scientists cautioned that some colors may be riskier under certain conditions. For example, silver cars may produce a blinding glare in daylight, although this same reflectivity makes them safer at night. Thus, the overall crash risk is roughly equal for all colors, but crash risks in specific situations might differ.
Liability Under Georgia Law for Crashes That Occur in Low Visibility Conditions
The liability for most car accidents will be determined based on negligence. While drivers sometimes hit other vehicles intentionally due to road rage, most collisions occur unintentionally due to the carelessness or recklessness of at least one party involved.
Negligence requires a person to act with the care and caution that a reasonable person would under the same circumstances. The last part is important because it allows the law to account for varying visibility, weather, and surface conditions. A driver on a wet road is expected to behave differently from one on a dry road; the same holds for foggy, snowy, and icy conditions.
Thus, even when the weather makes driving riskier, drivers are still responsible for their actions. More importantly, they cannot shift the blame for their failure to the color of your car. In fog, drivers must slow down and drive cautiously so that they can spot other vehicles in time to avoid rear-end collisions. If the fog is too dense, drivers should exit the road and wait for it to lift.
This additional caution would be reasonably expected from drivers in any condition that affects visibility, whether poor weather or darkness.
Contact Our Columbus Car Accident Lawyer at Mark Casto Personal Injury Law Firm for a Free Consultation
You can pursue injury compensation from a driver who negligently caused a collision, even if the visibility was poor. Contact Mark Casto Personal Injury Law Firm to learn how we can help you pursue compensation from the driver responsible for your injuries. Our Columbus car accident lawyer offers free consultations.
