As I report in my column today, NRMA Insurance has just released the results of an examination of its own records to show that dark cars, and it mentions black, green and blue, are involved in 10 per cent more accidents that cars of lighter colours. As well, it found that the average cost of accident repairs for dark cars was higher than that for other cars, suggesting that these dark cars are involved in more serious accidents.

NRMA Insurance used a series of photographs to show, too, that darker cars are much harder to see in the half light of dawn and dusk when, unfortunately, many drivers don't turn on their lights.

The capacity for a car to be lost in its background depends, of course, on the colour of the car and the colour of the background. I've long argued that the most common background is the road itself, a bitumen surface that ranges in colour from silver to charcoal, and this camouflage effect is most dangerous when the car is approaching the looker. A typical instance of that occurs when the looker is waiting at a T intersection and the car is approaching on his right. This circumstance, I believe, puts cars that are silver, grey, charcoal and dark blue at greater risk of being involved in an accident, but despite many requests over a decade I've not been able to get the necessary help for such a study.