Red cars elicit traffic stops: myth or reality?

[roger2]

Curious about your opinions, observations, and experiences.

Based on color alone and not the type of car or other variables, do you believe that a red car is more likely to attract the attention of police officers and is more likely to be pulled over than cars of other colors?

 

[needforspeed]

My dad had a 69 427 vette. He got his share of tickets. More to blame lighting up the tires, than it was red. However, When I got my Camaro, I made sure it was black.

 

[N8Nagel]

At one point in time I had a bright red '89 GTI 16v... Counter to my expectations that car was invisible. I got rear ended sitting still waiting for a turn, with my lights on, directly under a streetlight. I also had an astonishing number of close calls in that car.

 

[Wildcat]

I had a darker red car and was pulled over, but part of that could have been due to them pacing me at 80 MPH in one of those old 55 MPH zones (prior to the limit being bumped back to 70 MPH)....and it was night, also. My antique CR-V is San Marino Red, the same "racer" red that the Civic Si, Del Sol, and I think even the CRX had. Nothing out of the ordinary there either. It was not a cop magnet. It was also not a chick magnet.

 

[roger2]

My instinct would be that any car that is a chick magnet might tend to also be a cop magnet

 

[Bob Price]

Curious about your opinions, observations, and experiences.

I have heard about that "psychological" issue with red cars many times. I am unsure how true it is. I have owned a "Torred" SRT8 for almost 4 years now and I have not been stopped yet. "Torred" is a bright red that really glows. I am more inclined to believe that the appearance of the driver plays more of a part than the car's color, that is assuming no traffic laws are being broken at the time. I am 51 years old, I think an 18 year old might be a different story driving the same car.

 

[Mitkraft]

I have had red cars almost exclusively since 1998. Before that I had long hair and was young which I think was more likely the primary reason I used to get pulled over a lot more than I do now. I don’t get pulled over very often and my driving has been described by many as being like a bat out of hell.

 

[noogies]

I have owned seven red cars in the last 40 years. The only one I ever got a ticket in was my Ember Red '64 Chevy Impala 409, but that was only because I was doing 90 in a 55 zone.

 

[Hyperion]

I have owned or driven 4 red cars in my driving career. I did get pulled over for 'speeding' in one of them, this was while I was overtaking a huge, slow, earth moving truck, so I thought it was really unfair. In the UK the colour of a car is thought to mean certain things such as, yellow cars are less likely to be involved in accidents, and green cars are said to be 'unlucky' - but maybe this is more a regional thing and in reality just an urban myth. As for red cars, the choice of colour may indicate a more impulsive (or aggressive) driver? - and thus more likely to be involved in accidents? - who knows.

 

[motorstereo]

I've had 3 red cars, a red motorcycle and a couple of red trucks over the years and I never noticed any color profiling. Doing things wrong behind the wheel is what gets me pulled over.

 

[petehall347]

i once heard a story that the police play snooker with cars so red will get stopped more others . black cars were obviously left till last . and white dont get stopped .. i can believe this used to happen but not these days .

 

[851 SP3]

A friend of mine has owned a long string of Ferraris going back over 30 years. All red. He drives them (currently five in the pool) regularly until the first salt hits the roads (he's in Ohio also) and all over the place. Some even have snow tires and go year-round. The number of times he's been pulled over is less than a handful of fingers. Of course, he's aware of the possibility of extra scrutiny and drives (all his cars) less 'enthusiastically' than most of us would and that may contribute to his lack of 'visitors'.

 

[55Redneck]

My daily driver from 1989-2000 was a red with white stripe Olds 442 that I drove hard. I got pulled over once in all 11 years I drove it, for speeding (and I was). I think the red car thing is a myth.

 

[petehall347]

red cars are mostly owned by boy racer types . white cars by executives .
i once had a 2 tone car .brown and gold .top half brown bottom half gold .i got stopped every time i went out in it .i asked the police why keep picking on me and they said it was because it was 2 tone . i got rid of it soon after that .

 

[Ohighway]

Out of two Miatas we've owned, the yellow one has drawn more attention from the police than the red one.

 

[ConradH]

Several of my cars have been red and I think it's a myth that they get pulled over more. Mostly people get pulled over for radar, license plate scanners and gross stupidity. OTOH, that studies have shown them to be less visible and as a result, more accident prone. Don't know if that's still true.

 

[2011etec]

Food for thought.Certainly not the be all end all on this subject.https://www.motorists.org/blog/get-pulled-over-more-often/

 

[2011etec]

I own a white f150 4x4 with grey bottom ,next ford i buy will also be white or they have a blue i really like.Dodge has a rootbeer(?) color i love also.My friend had his 73 mach1 redone in caddy met red this year,it sure stands out big time.

 

[Bob]

my allstate insurance agent, covering one of the densest car/driver areas in the country, tells me
from her experience (all those with cars and points for speeding) to NEVER buy a red car.

the "science" (for those of you who believe in it) is, if you have a favorite drive - you know that
long hard commute where 30 miles takes 90 minutes (anywhere to Sunnyvale), look a mile ahead
every so often. and id the colors of the cars there. probably can't - I know I can't so you could
be better than me.

you will always notice a red car. a mile out. and those LEOs are human speed detectors. they
can define that speed in court and the radar detector reading is gravy or Plan B.

your next question is why aren't all mini-vans red like most Ferraris?

 

[Mitkraft]

Wow, lots of people in this thread even seem to be stating old wives tales like they are fact. Pretty funny how this stuff gets ingrained in our minds. This thread just reminded me of this commercial from a while back: