Most car accidents result from careless or dangerous driving behaviors, like distracted driving or speeding. However, an inattentive driver in Clearwater, FL, might try to blame the color of your vehicle for a crash they’ve caused. A Clearwater car color & crash risk lawyer can help you overcome this defense and keep the focus on the other driver’s actions.
Researchers have reached conflicting conclusions about the relevance of car color to crash risk. Thus, an insurance lawyer might have difficulty introducing evidence that the color of your car contributed to the accident. Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers is prepared to overcome this defense. We have over 300 years of collective experience and have recovered over $675 million for our clients.
Contact our law office at (727) 796-8282 to schedule a free consultation.
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How Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After A Car Accident In Clearwater, FL
Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers is well-known in the Clearwater, Florida legal community. Our firm has a reputation for high-quality and skilled legal representation. Members of our legal team have been recognized by Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, and other prestigious legal organizations.
Our Clearwater personal injury attorneys provide the following assistance after you suffer an injury in an avoidable incident:
- Listen to you talk about your injuries and how you received them
- Explain your options for seeking injury compensation
- File an insurance claim and fight to resolve it
- Litigate your case if the insurer refuses a fair settlement
A car accident can involve complicated legal and factual issues, but we will provide guidance. Contact our law firm for a free consultation with a Clearwater car accident attorney to learn about pursuing compensation after your accident.
Relationship Between Car Color And Crashes
The color of a car may play a role in some car accidents. Drivers may have difficulty seeing dark colors like black or navy blue at night, especially on unlit streets or parking lots. Similarly, gray might not stand out in a rainstorm, and silver might produce a blinding glare in the sun.
With this in mind, researchers have examined whether there is a correlation between some car colors and accidents. They perform studies to determine whether cars of certain colors are more likely to crash, regardless of the lighting, weather, or visibility.
To assess this risk, scientists gather crash statistics, cleanse the datasets to account for other factors, and analyze the data to identify statistically significant trends.
The final two steps are critical to producing an outcome that is admissible in court. Under the Florida Rules of Evidence, scientific opinions are admissible when they meet the following three criteria:
- They are based on facts and data.
- They are produced using reliable principles and methods.
- The witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.
Thus, for an expert witness to testify that the color of your car caused the other driver to hit you, the expert must show that their opinion is supported by scientific studies that used sound processes generally accepted among other scientists.
Studies about the relationship between car color and crash risk likely do not meet this standard because they have produced conflicting conclusions. For example, a study by scientists at the University of Auckland found that silver cars were the safest, while a study in Australia concluded they were tied for the highest crash risk.
The Role Of Your Lawyer
Your lawyer has two challenges. First, you must overcome the other driver’s defense by showing that the color of your vehicle did not cause the crash. Second, your lawyer must establish the other driver’s liability for your injuries.
For example, a study carried out at the University of Dayton can help disprove the claim that your car’s color played a role in your accident. This study focused solely on the color of the vehicle that was hit. In other words, it eliminated single-vehicle accidents from the dataset. It also eliminated the color of the at-fault driver’s vehicle.
This study found no statistically significant link between car color and crash risk. It determined that no color is so difficult to see that drivers disproportionately hit cars of that color.
However, once you have overcome the other driver’s defense, your lawyer must still prove liability.
Situations in which a driver blames the color of the other car for a crash will typically involve adverse weather or lighting conditions. Still, drivers must exercise reasonable care even when visibility is poor. Thus, your lawyer will argue that the other driver hit your car due to their risky driving behaviors rather than an inability to see your car.
For example, suppose that another driver claims they hit your gray vehicle during a rainstorm because of its color. Even if visibility was poor, the other driver would still be liable if they were speeding on slick roads, failed to change worn wiper blades, or committed some other careless act.
Contact Our Clearwater Car Color & Crash Risk Lawyers For A Free Consultation
Many factors affect crash risk, but car color typically does not. Contact Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation with our Clearwater car color & crash risk attorneys.
