Can the Color of Your Car Raise Your Insurance Costs?

For those drivers wondering what can be done about their high insurance rates, maybe there is a simple solution. Change the color of the car that you drive. An urban myth says that red cars get the highest insurance rates. Insurance companies insist that car color is not actually a real consideration when issuing a new policy or setting premium rates.

Why do you drive the color car that you do?

Many people own a particular vehicle because it was available and affordable when they were purchasing their last car. These drivers probably do not believe that having a red car affects insurance rates. This is because they do not change their driving habits to reflect their car color.

For drivers who select and order a car with a flashy color like red, it may indirectly affect car insurance rates.

How you drive a car is related to your personality. Impatient people are likely to speed rather than arrive a few minutes later to their destination. People who want to attract attention to themselves may prefer fast starts and daring driving styles. These are the same people who a likely to be drawn to brighter and more noticeable car colors. Once you choose actions that draw attention, the car color only reinforces what a police officer might already be thinking: that a hot-looking car has a fast and reckless driver behind the wheel. The likelihood of avoiding a ticket is remote if the officer views you as a hazard on the roadway.

It does not do any good to have a bright colored car if it does not have the power to live up to its appearance.

The translation is that a bright, flashy, red car is often loaded with power under the hood. A bright car with a big engine is a formula to receive many speeding tickets. Frequent speeding tickets will lead to high cost insurance. The final analysis is that red and other bright colors on cars may indirectly produce higher insurance premiums. It is not because of the color, but because of the personality and driving habits of the car's operator.

Learning to obey the traffic laws and careful driving are rewarded with low insurance premiums.

It does not matter what color of car you drive. You can keep lower insurance costs by driving conservatively. This may not be your favorite way to act behind the wheel, but if saving money on car insurance is important to you, it is the only way to act. A properly driven red car will cost the same amount to insure as a tan one.