Multiple lights that can all be turned off - except for the so called "daytime driving light", but that's also a double edged sword: many drivers seem to think that if they have these they can get away with leaving the "real" headlights off for longer, but forget that there is no daytime light at the rear of the car. So yeah, a murky-matte-gray car in murky gray weather at twilight is the worst situation for visibility I can think of too...
I only really see this issue on old vehicles. Most vehicles have lights set to automatically turned on when it gets dark. I very rarely see a new vehicle that doesn't have this enabled and/or daytime running lights. Even newer Honda civics have a feature to automatically turn on high beams when no oncoming traffic at night
That's not accurate, so many designs of cars are hard to see the side profile of even with lights. Even if it were, it's not bourne out in studies of paint colour and crash risk. Grey/silver represents an increased crash risk, especially at night.
Something I think hinders visibility is also that cars are often amongst dozens of other lights, especially at intersections where it matters most.
Actually the Australian study you quoted earlier showed that the difference in crash risk was largest during daylight hours, as in Australia many people drive with their lights off during daylight.
But yes, I suspect if you were to redo that study in a country where people always have the lights on (perhaps due to local law if nothing else), you'd see the biggest difference in poor lightning conditions.
rob74|3 years ago
jessechahal|3 years ago
HPsquared|3 years ago
ehnto|3 years ago
Something I think hinders visibility is also that cars are often amongst dozens of other lights, especially at intersections where it matters most.
jabl|3 years ago
But yes, I suspect if you were to redo that study in a country where people always have the lights on (perhaps due to local law if nothing else), you'd see the biggest difference in poor lightning conditions.
yamtaddle|3 years ago