About 9 months, I bought a new car, a 2011 Ford Fusion Sport, in red. It is my first red car. (this is motorcycle related. Just wait.)
In the first couple of months, I had a number of near misses, with drivers cutting me off, pulling in front of me, etc. Each time, I chuckled after staining my shorts, chalking it up to new car syndrome. Everyone wants to be first to baptize a new car.
The problem is, the new car syndrome has not worn off. In fact, it is getting worse. In these past 9 months, I have had more close calls than I have had in my entire 30 years of driving. And I'm talking close as in less than a foot away from an accident.
The most recent one was as I was driving through a shopping center at a crawl, no more than 10mph. A guy who was waiting to pull out of a side aisle just pulled out, aiming right for my door. I laid on the horn and it scared the crap out of him. He never saw me, even though it was in the middle of the day.
By contrast, I cannot remember one single car pulling out in front of my 02 Illusion Blue Wing in the 10 years I have owned it. Even when drivers begin to roll, they have always seen me and stopped. (I did have a woman driving a semi pull out and try to run me off the road however.)
I have never given much credence to the color thing. But this has been going on way too long with too many close calls to still be just coincidence. People simply do not see this car. And the only reason I can think of is because it is red. And no, it is not my imagination. My wife has been with me numerous times and has seen it happen. She now believes me. (although she just laughed at me the first dozen times I told her about it.)
What is surprising is that red is generally considered to be an easy color to see. Magazines almost always pick red cars for their covers because they feel it makes the cover more visible.
Most people, especially men, see red as the predominant color. I am different. I see blue as predominant. So I could never argue against this thinking.
Everyone can of course form their own theories as to why this is happening. But at this point, I will never buy a red Goldwing, and that is why I am sharing this. Having this stuff happen in a car is bad enough. I don't need that kind of danger while on my bike. Hopefully I won't jinx myself here. But it seems that my blue Wing is more visible.
Honda needs to bring back Illusion Blue. If visibility is important to you, I would recommend buying any color other than red. This car is gorgeous in red. But I would trade it for a different color in a second if I could.
I fully expect skepticism here. It's only an observation. I'm not trying to present it as fact.
In the first couple of months, I had a number of near misses, with drivers cutting me off, pulling in front of me, etc. Each time, I chuckled after staining my shorts, chalking it up to new car syndrome. Everyone wants to be first to baptize a new car.
The problem is, the new car syndrome has not worn off. In fact, it is getting worse. In these past 9 months, I have had more close calls than I have had in my entire 30 years of driving. And I'm talking close as in less than a foot away from an accident.
The most recent one was as I was driving through a shopping center at a crawl, no more than 10mph. A guy who was waiting to pull out of a side aisle just pulled out, aiming right for my door. I laid on the horn and it scared the crap out of him. He never saw me, even though it was in the middle of the day.
By contrast, I cannot remember one single car pulling out in front of my 02 Illusion Blue Wing in the 10 years I have owned it. Even when drivers begin to roll, they have always seen me and stopped. (I did have a woman driving a semi pull out and try to run me off the road however.)
I have never given much credence to the color thing. But this has been going on way too long with too many close calls to still be just coincidence. People simply do not see this car. And the only reason I can think of is because it is red. And no, it is not my imagination. My wife has been with me numerous times and has seen it happen. She now believes me. (although she just laughed at me the first dozen times I told her about it.)
What is surprising is that red is generally considered to be an easy color to see. Magazines almost always pick red cars for their covers because they feel it makes the cover more visible.
Most people, especially men, see red as the predominant color. I am different. I see blue as predominant. So I could never argue against this thinking.
Everyone can of course form their own theories as to why this is happening. But at this point, I will never buy a red Goldwing, and that is why I am sharing this. Having this stuff happen in a car is bad enough. I don't need that kind of danger while on my bike. Hopefully I won't jinx myself here. But it seems that my blue Wing is more visible.
Honda needs to bring back Illusion Blue. If visibility is important to you, I would recommend buying any color other than red. This car is gorgeous in red. But I would trade it for a different color in a second if I could.
I fully expect skepticism here. It's only an observation. I'm not trying to present it as fact.
