title: Yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis because yellow is more visible than blue.
abstract: Is there a link between the color of a taxi and how many accidents it has? An analysis of 36 mo of detailed taxi, driver, and accident data (comprising millions of data points) from the largest taxi company in Singapore suggests that there is an explicit link. Yellow taxis had 6.1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month than blue taxis, a 9% reduction in accident probability. We rule out driver difference as an explanatory variable and empirically show that because yellow taxis are more noticeable than blue taxis-especially when in front of another vehicle, and in street lighting-other drivers can better avoid hitting them, directly reducing the accident rate. This finding can play a significant role when choosing colors for public transportation and may save lives as well as millions of dollars.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Deputy President (Research & Technology), National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077; dprhoth@nus.edu.sg.|Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Teck-Hua
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: National University of Singapore Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119245.
authors.forename: Juin Kuan
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001336:Automobiles; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D012846:Singapore
keywords: car color; data science; road safety; sensory perception; transportation science