"Cop magnet" colors versus "stealthy" ones?

I've never usually considered colors such as yellow or bright red for a daily driver, as I suspect they would tend to attract more attention from the police in any given situation. How true to you think this really is? Also, what would you consider the most "stealthy" colors? I'm thinking maybe silver, black or blue. Any officers on this board who can speak from experience?

As the cop checked my UK driving License after pulling me over in AZ in the guards red 986 'Don't you know that this car, in red, just makes it look like you're speeding.......'

So far, midnight blue works pretty well... Then again, I got pulled over in my last car which was a black Saab 9-2X, so dark colours are no guarantee

Not being able to stay in one lane and go with the "flow of traffic" in any car, I've never been pulled over in my Guards Red 4S w/ only 3 months of ownership.

True, I got stalked yesterday by CHP on 5 in my black/black 996 He spent a deal of time pacing me from the slow lane, 'hiding' behind other vehicles etc etc Then decided to do the intimidation piece by zooming up to my rear bumper and sitting there for two minutes before eventually driving off after a speeding Mercedes.

Now if that isn't a jinxing statement, I don't know what is!

The best color is asphalt grey with a yellow or white stripe down the center....

I got me a car with that paint scheme! Here it is, on a run to Vegas... Blends in really well!

lol Living on the edge!

LOL I haven't run into any problems so far, any color can honestly be a cop magnet dependent on your driving really.

Artic Silver, Black, Dark colours are low profile... i;m guessing Red and Yellow are high profie...

I drove a red sport car for years without issues. A CHP vehicle will often tail me for a sec then drive off. The one time I drove a yellow rental station wagon I got promptly pulled over for speeding even though I was speeding 'within the pack'. In my blk 996 going 80 (65 limit), a motocycle officer pulled up alongside me...I thought I was getting a ticket for sure, but he just gave me a thumbs up wave and sped off.

I have driven my Speed ing Yellow Carrera for 3 years now (sometimes at speed) and never got singled out before. No tickets ........(KNOCK ON WOOD!)

You too are living on the edge eh!

It doesn't matter what machine I am in, I get pulled over. It has gotten so bad that the state just sends me the tickets and asks me to sign them and send them back. There is a note inside that says, "We'll fill in the speed later". How does color matter when your car is likely going faster than the others around you?

I've seen a cop merge with a group of fast-runners on the highway and pick out a nice Red Mustang to ticket. Personally I don't think a Porsche is low-profile in any color.

They actually did a study on this and red and yellow were #1 and 2 easily. Though you can't get away with the others you are more likely to get dinged in red and yellow. I've blown by cops in my silver many times before I realized they were there and then thought "wow, how did I get away with that?" . On the other hand, my wife brewed up 3 tickets in 9 months in her red civic. (before you nail me, she LOVED that little red hatchback, I had to pry it away from her).

she probably had her baseball cap on backwards, and that's why she got pulled over!

Nope, it was the neon running boards and the **** steering wheel.

coupled with a coffee can exhaust on that civic, there's no doubt she got pulled over!

Let me explain this further. First, I don't speed when I'm bymyself on the road. When I'm with group of cars running 10 to 15 MPH over the speed limit, I have never been singled out. There were times were I was faster than a group of cars, but I don't pass them with a big difference in speed. The cops could tell that I'm driving faster than the group, but just slowly passing them. I think they look for the one thats wrecklessly passing everyone.

Agreed

+1 I agree. I've been singled out before but not in my porsche... but in my black SUV!

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I'm with you on this. I only speed alone when I absolutely have to be somewhere in a hurry, and always try to remain within a small speed delta of flowing traffic when I am over the limit. I don't want to jinx myself here, but I've had 1 ticket on the highway in 20 years (and I totally deserved that one). My daily driver now is a green 2000 Range Rover, which is pretty innocuous/generic looking. All the time in Atlanta I am seeing people get pulled out of speeding traffic where everyone is flowing maybe 10-15 mph over, and usually it seems the car is either a bright-colored car, a sportscar, or an obviously expensive one. I had a cop blow by me other day in highway traffic with lights on and I was sure I was busted (75-80 in a 65), but he pulled right around me and went after a new red Vette in front of me that was doing the exact same speed. Talk about profiling! I actually felt kind of guilty for getting away with it and bad for the guy in the Vette.

I think that this guy from Canada has the right idea. P.S.- So far, so good- no tickets with my Guards Red 996.

I would never buy a car based on the assumption that someday my color will keep me from getting some random ticket. I bought my guards red car because that's the color I like, and I'm not gonna drive around in a grey or silver car like every-other car on the road "just in case", or because some study said so.

Car color will not increase your chances of getting a ticket. However, driving like an asshat will.

Interesting theory, but wrong. Let's be honest, we all speed. This isn't the We Love Our Saturn board. It's natural for the eye to be attracted to the reds and yellows (think blonds and redheads to get a clear understanding as to why). When I'm doing 12mph over the speed limit in my silver Targa and you are doing the same in your red convertable, you are at least twice as likely to get a ticket. It's a fact.

Many years ago I had friends with two 911s. One black, the other red. Whoever was driving the red car wound up getting tickets far more than the black car. There's another issue at hand that we have to consider. Visibility for safety's sake. I think my blue stands out probably as well as a red or yellow,--and less likely to get run over by another car. It would be interesting to see the statistics on rear end accidents with silver, black, or anthracite cars.

I believe there is not sufficient and supportive data that would conclude the fact that red is a cop magnet. On the same token, one would think that WHITE would be the most visible color since WHITE is bright even at night, unlike red, which is only noticeable during the day.

You are absolutely right here. My wife's grey Honda used to get hit all the time until she started driving with her headlights on. I attributed it to the color. I've never seen a car get hit so much. In our last 18 months in California that car got hit 3 times in 18 months.

If a male drove that honda, it would be accident-free!

Sadly not. I cannot blame her. I drove it initially and it was getting hit (regardless of the driver) by people rear ending it, or people pulling out on it, i.e. not seeing it. My commute used to take me from South San Jose to San Carlos and I remember the madness of I-85... two left lanes at a standstill, right lane moving at 60mph and idiots abuptly pulling left to right from stationary traffic into 60mph traffic and wondering why they got hit. I was not sad to see the back of driving in the bay area.

hehe I was j/k about the woman/man thing.

I know... I gave her a hard time over it also. She was not amused and reminded me of all the times that people hit me while I was driving the car.... that's why I now have a white Porsche.... nice and visible.

I was concerned about my color so I put a wing on it to tone it down...

I'm not trying to Pollyanna-ish about it. I've owned black, slate-grey/blue, and guards red Porsches. If I take a 3 year snapshot of ownership of each car and their associated violations it would look something like this: Black: 3 violations (2 within 6 months - prompting a warning letter from the state) Slate Grey/Blue: 2 violations Guards Red: 0 (and still at zero, knock on wood) The difference isn't the color. The difference is that I grew up a bit and I'm smarter about the way I drive. Sure, I may speed a bit on the freeway but it's not overly excessive. I don't weave in and out of traffic. I don't ride people's bumpers. Essentially, I don't drive like a tool. I go to DE's and work out my "need for speed" at the track. That's not to say that on occasion, in the early morning, I don't find a remote backroad and have a spirited drive.

My yellow cab is camouflaged in the city with all the cabbies around but once i hit NJ...stick out like a sore thumb w/ troopers ready to pounce, which is y i try to keep my speed in check.

There are a number of cops on this forum....some have ID'd themselves, others haven't...but I'm sure that if you were to poll them, the main reason folks get "pulled out" is because of erratic driving. Lane changes, zipping in and out, or hauling a$$ in the fast lane are simply tactics that get you noticed. Granted, a bright color could very well "get you noticed"...and perhaps on any given day it might somehow serve to focus attention on you. But try to think of it IF YOU WERE THE COP driving on the freeway looking for a likely candidate to exercise your pen on. There has to be something that grabs your attention, and for me....just being a joe-citizen driving in freeway traffic...the biggest attractor is the erratic driver...or the loud mufflers with speed. A real attractor is when you see the guys doing fly-bys and grabbing an additional non-sensical 10 yards of freeway real estate for no good reason other than they want to move thru traffic faster than the next guy. Those are the folks vying for the rush hour pole positions....and a lot of brake lights would seem to indicate speed/slow/speed/slow. The color of that car being driven erratically wouldn't seem to enter into the equation...it's the movement. If you're in traffic and looking way up ahead, it's really easy to pick up on the guy who's doing the fast lane changes and erratic moves...and that's when the lock-on happens. In sparse traffic, what do you think would serve to cause a cop to lock-on? Again, a car changing lanes erratically or getting smaller in the distance.... I don't think color would matter under those circumstances.

Chuck, I agree as do many on this thread that erratic driving trumps color in attracting cop's attention. but what about the times when you are part of the pack, moving with everyone else, but the cop enters the freeway, finds the entire pack above speed limit, and needs to nab someone in the group for speeding? In that instance, where driving in the speeding pack and without erratic maneuvers, will driving a red car get you noticed more frequently than driving a silver or white car?

I followed a State Police car across West Texas for 200miles, going 90mph. I was going along at 95-100mph, and saw him up ahead and he was going maybe 85mph. I slowly crept up to him and held speed with him a little distance behind him. He then sped up to 90, and so did I. I don't know why I did it, but I felt that since he was already speeding and we were out in the middle of nowhere, just tying to make some good time, that he would be cool with letting me tag-along. I set my cruise at 90mph and just followed him down the interstate. People we passed saw this State Policeman and a red Porsche flying by them and not one person tried to tag along. He was my police escort. I eventually got off at an exit, and sped back up - making great time.

Jimhsu: I think that about the best explanation I can come up with is that if an entire group of cars are exceeding the speed limit....there is going to be ONE sacrificial lamb. Although I have seen instances where there will be two or three cars all pulled over and all getting tickets....for the most part, in a given group of "everyone's doing it".....there's going to be one who eats the weenie. Let's put it to the group....OK guys...you're the cop. There's a group of five Porsches playing tag in light traffic...nothing really dangerous or outlandish....but they are doing let's say 73 in a 65 zone. You need to nail someone to send a message. Who do you nail? What makes that one car become the focus of your attention? They're all doing 73....and you don't want to have to try to pull over multiple vehicles. You tell me...is it color? Body style? Do you drive up and look at the drivers and see if someone makes eye contact and becomes the sacrificial lamb? Or....like in so many instances....is it the poor fellow who's the last one in the line who gets nailed just because he's the first one you come up on. Now you could compound this further by throwing in a group of cars...a Pantera, Porsche, Lambo, Lotus, and a Ferrari. Now what? Or take it another step....Honda, Acura, Hummer, Lexus, and Porsche. Is it color....or make/model? Or the unusual one in a series of bland cars? All this boils down to the original question....if YOU WERE THE COP....what would you focus on? after all...aside from the fact they're wearing a gun/badge and uniform....they're still motivated by the same stimulus/response that anyone else is.

I have seen this happen many, many times on the freeway. Mind you, I am talking about a group of cars all driving normally (no erratic lane changes or speed delta) maybe 10-15 miles over the limit. In my experience, it is usually the guy in the most expensive car, the sportscar, or the teenager in the rice rocket with the backwards baseball cap on that takes the grenade for the platoon. I have dodged this grenade several times in my green SUV. I have to believe that if I were driving a speed yellow Porsche, I would have been killed every time.

Actually, I'm pretty sure there have been tests done that show that certain colors do attract attention more than others. But the fact that we all drive Porsches is yet another reason why we would be pulled over faster than if someone were driving a Buick. Buick says "slow;" Porsche says "fast."

Taking from what the other blokes have said, those tests only support 50% of the equation. The other 50% is driving style.

I can answer this one. A colleague of mine was speeding in a pack in west texas (near pampa). The cars were in a group in the left lane. The cop pulled down the right lane and pulled my colleague (in his slow looking rental car) out of the middle of the pack and ticketed him. Afterwards, he asked why he was chosen and the response was, "you didn't have the courage to be at the front or back of the pack, you were hiding in the middle, so you got the ticket." Pretty funny.

I'd pick the one with the cutest girl and let her get away with a warning. Wait - is that profiling or just perverted?

LOL. Similar thing happened to me, except the cop rudely told me "I could choose anyone in that group, and I chose you!"

Neither... that's desperation!

It's certainly not desperation. Why pick any car? The red one, the green one, the first one, the middle one. Every cop has their reason, even if it's a coin toss.

Perverted profiling! But I like the way you think!

Wellardmac wrote: "Afterwards, he asked why he was chosen and the response was, "you didn't have the courage to be at the front or back of the pack, you were hiding in the middle, so you got the ticket." I think this is a prime example that points up the fact that you never really know what the "lock-on motivaor" is going to be. In that example...the cop was obviously swayed by courage...or what he saw was a lack of it. Maybe he was a former marine, or Desert Storm soldier.....Color of the vehicle had nothing to do with it. Which goes back to the issue of "IF YOU WERE THE COP....WHAT WOULD CAUSE YOU TO FOCUS ON A PARTICULAR CAR?" I think there's agreement that driving style or erratic driving style is a major contributor....but it could be the pretty blonde driving, or the body style, or the color, or simply because the cop is bored, or ...or...or. Bottom line....keep your speed down....watch your rear view mirror, and regardless of the color, make, year, style of whatever you're driving....you'll stay out of court.

That's a hell of a slantnose you got there. Awesome.

Wonder what the cops response would've been if he said, "Hey, I started at the back and was just making my way to the front when you came by..."

I've been stalked, too, in my Lapis Blue 996. I made a point of not buying a smoking deal of a Speed Yellow 996, becasue I was convinced it's be a cop magnet. Now I know it's the car, not the color. So, when I get a GT3, it may well end up with a coat of International Orange.

Yeah, I long ago stopped believing in the color having an effect. It's the car and the driver that have the greatest effect.

My theory, for what it is worth, is that "intelligent" police agencies, when given an option of vehicles to ticket, will more often target a less-than premium vehicle, regardless of color. I believe that the reasoning behind the decision is that cars like Porsches are designed and built to handle high speed under control, whereas a car like a Mustang (not EVERY Mustang, but the majority) is an inexpensive 0-60 car for the crowd that seeks that one dimensional satisfaction and is not as refined for high speed control, thus is questioned by the police agency as to the safety of the occupants and other motorists when the Mustang is at a higher velocity. Hence, when forced to make a choice the Mustang gets pulled over. Now a variation on my theory... The "unintelligent" police agencies (like the small town speed traps) will circumvent as many premium-car speeders as possible, again regardless of color, because the typical owner is not concerned about a speeding ticket and will more often pay the fine and move on. Finally, I think that the stigma of bright-colored sports cars getting ticketed more often, for the most part, does not exist anymore because that cliche of "it must be owned by a person with wild flair" is used up. Just look at all the non-sporting vehicles on the market today like yellow Nissan Exterra SUVs and yellow Chevy Canyon trucks.

Today, I was going out to eat with my wife in my Guards RED 996. I was having fun and I entered the highway going 88mph. I looked in my review mirror and there was an Ohio State Highway Patrol Officer behind me. Somehow, they didn't pull me over. It seems that Red work pretty well as camouflage. Just kidding, I think that I just got very lucky. It is interesting that they went around me and pulled over a kid in a RED Mazda.

i read in a mercedes study years ago that contrary to popular opinion,greenish yellow,not white or red,is the most visible color...that's why fire trucks everywhere but here sport that hue. also,black is not the least visible color...my beloved midnight blue wins that prize!

I recall reading that same article many years ago. But I have to say that I've been pulled over more with my new 997S in 6-8 months than in that many years in my 1987 VW Vanagon (silver). Haven't ever qualified for a ticket with the Porsche, yet! When I bought my first Porsche decades ago (1974) I was pulled over within a week of purchase. They just wanted to look at it and talk about the car! Cops,--are just people, too!

My point (in the post just previous) exactly.

What a cool story. I've done the same thing in the past, just not in the P-car. Yet.

Ha! I did this once, and the cop radioed ahead and had me pulled over. Boy was I pissed! (Luckily the cop was a no-show at court, so the ticket was thrown out.)

My worst experience regarding profiling had nothing to do with the color of the car.... About 6-7 years ago I bought myself a '79 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Coming from Europe I thought it would be great fun to have one of these gigantic old cruise ships with a 7 liter V8. It would also be a great compliment to my 2-seater sports car so that friends and family could use it to drive around when visiting and avoid having to rent a car. The car was indeed huge and fun to cruise around in. To really pimp it out and installed a mini disco ball on the rearview mirror and a snake skin steering wheel cover. Looked real "phat" with the **** red interior.....hahaha. That car attracted more police attention than any car, of any color I've ever owned. If I came driving down the road and a cop was heading the other way on a weekend end night, they would quickly do a U-turn and pull up behind me. I got pulled over more times in that car than all other cars combined. When the cops finally came up the drivers side to ask for my license and registration they always looked surprised to see a well dressed, blond, blue-eyed Scandinavian behind the wheel and always let me go right away. Their attitude changed from full on alert to very relaxed and asking about the car and the horsepower etc. At first I didn't understand why the police was so interested in my car. However, after a while, my very non-scientific conclusion was that the police wasn't exactly expecting to find someone like me in the car. I�m sure that they went after the car thinking a totally different clientele normally drives an old Cadillac. Still miss the nice soft ride of the Cadillac, you could barely feel any of the potholes (read craters) that our freeways are full of.

After reading this thread I see that it is more of how you drive than the colour of the car that gets you in trouble. At some point in history, maybe even a movie, it became a perception that bright coloured cars will get you tickets. Basically I bought the colour of the car I want to drive...live life on the edge I say, don't care about statistics or anyone's opinion/perception. If you want to stand out on the road then the colour of the car will do that, if you do not want to stand out then do not buy yellow or red. But do not avoid buying a yellow or red car because you are afraid of getting a ticket, that to me is a non-justified excuse, and probably a conclusion you have come to based upon others input. Of course driving any P car will get you attention no matter what colour it is, just a like a ferrari in silver or a lambo in black, you still see them even though they are not red or yellow or bright green. Do I think cops single the colour of the car out, no, your driving will do that. Do I drive my car any different since it is yellow, no, it has not changed how I drive. That is my two cents.

I was a cop 4 years ago, but I'm also a car fanatic...colour meant nothing to me, but cars I knew had high HP engines, I pulled over all the time.

For many years I had a red 944 -- and got many tickets. Then I upgraded to a silver 944 turbo, which was almost twice as fast, and got very few tickets (I was in the turbo when I followed the cop in the above post). Granted, I'm a little wiser/older but not much -- in 4 years with the red car, I probably was pulled over 8 or 10 times. In the turbo, in the last six years, its only been twice.

Why would you do that? Shouldn't you do it based on observed behaviour, rather than profiling the car based on HP. I ask because I'm trying to understand.

So, does that mean if a Chevy Cavalier was being followed by a Porsche 911 and they both zoomed by at 80 mph, you would have gone after the one with the higher HP?

i was in a driver improvement class when I Was in high school and one of the girls was there because she did almost the same thing to a cop who had his sirens on. Apparently she was tailgating him too...I just always thought that was the funniest thing in the world. Come to think of it one of the guys in the class was a certified speed freak...at least he got pulled over all the time. I think he had a red boxster. anyways, i'll never pass on a car just because it looks like a cop magnet...a military ID doesn't hurt in that department either I've gotten out of more tickets that way...in an arctic silver BMW

I have never paid much attention to the color of cars that I pull over. I am much more inclined to pull over a guy in a beat up old muscle car with lightning bolts tattooed on his neck then a well dressed businessman in a Porsche. Many of my co-workers would be more inclined to pull over the person in the following picture regardless of what type or color of car they were driving.

Oh wow, Yeah, enough said!!!

That happened to me last week. I was crusing along doing 70 in a 65 zone on a 4 lane (each way) section of IH 85 going exactly the same speed as the other 7 or 8 cars in the pack. I was in the far left lane and I saw a State Trooper sitting on the right side of the road. I knew I was not much above the speed limit so I kept pace with all of the other cars in the pack as. About 1.5 miles later I see this car approaching VERY rapidly. As he approaches me, I pull over one lane to the right to let him pass, but to my surprise he pulls in behind me. I pull over and he said that I wasn't going that much over the speed limit but asks if there is a reason I was doing 70 MPH when the speed limit was 60? I said "you mean 65!" He said "No, 60. It changed to 60 about two miles back." I must have had this tortured look on my face when I told him I did not see the drop in teh speed limit. He looked at my DL and asked if I had any speeding tickets. I said yes, last December. He tells me he is not going to give me a ticket and to slow down. I wanted to ask why he picked me out of the pack, but was so relieved that I didn't get a ticket that I just thanked him a drove off! I didn't need another ticket. The last one got my insurance premiums increased!

So Mark.....let me see if I get this right......you'd rather pull over a guy with lightning bolts on his neck than that brunette in a red miniskirt? Have you been to the police psychologist lately? How did your Rorshark test turn out? I've heard that therapy can help.....sometimes. Chuck

i'm not even a cop and i'd pull her over

No tickets in the black car, they have pulled me over a few times, only to let me go. Twice, just to check out the car....................

Chuck, you forget...I'm old enough to be her Dad and I would prefer to stay happily married. Oh, I almost forgot, wifey will be carrying a gun also in a couple months. Remember a lady by the name of Lorraine Bobbit?

Lorraine......Lorraine.......oh yes.....she was responsible for putting together the candidates for a male soprano group. I've been using your Gtek...but I can't get the times you got with your Tip....too much strain on the clutch at launch...but I'm having fun with it.

Chuck, I'm glad to hear you're having fun with the G-tech. How does the 930 compare to the 996?

Haven't run the Gtek on the 930...I would imagine that I would get better lower end times out of the 930 as long as I kept it spooled up...the long geared 4 speed wouldn't need to shift past 2nd. It has a new clutch in it, so the launch is much tighter. The clutch on the 996 is starting to slip a bit...always did engage high ever since I bought it. We need to get together again....how about this week sometime?

I have an '03 in guards red C2 Cab and have never got stopped in 3.5 years. As we all know, you can't go slow in a P car. My BMW 745i Black on the other hand has been stopped 3 times in the last 3 years for speeding. Fortunately, I have some get out of jail free passes.

I hate it when people sterotype people with tat's, and in this case use it as an excuse to pull them over. If the same person is driving a P car, then are they going to get pulled over too, sounds like it to me?

Steven, I was not referring to someone with tats like yours. I have several younger Deputy friends with as many as you have. I do enjoy giving them a hard time about their tats (I think there is an age gap). I was making a reference to a person with a prison gang tattoo (the lightning bolts on the neck=Aryan Brotherhood). What I should have said, was I would rather pull over parolees than joe citizen. When I started my career in South Central Los Angeles in the mid 80s, the only people that I encountered with tattoes were gang memebers or Parolees. After 22 years, I can tell the difference between a gang tattoo, a prison tattoo, and joe citizen (or deputy) who has tattoos. Steven, I did not mean to offend you. The only reason I would pull you over would be to tell you what a cool car you have and introduce myself. I will work on being more politically correct in my old age. My best friend's adult daughter has one over the crack of her butt....I shouldn't tell him what that one means.

Tramp Stamp!!!

NP, you did not offend me at all, just wanted to express my concern about possible profiling because of tattoos, but now I understand your position as I wasn't aware of the lightning bolts being a representation of something to be honest. I have and will continue to keep myself on the correct side of the law, so to me tat's are pieces of art work and in some cases expression of the person (as you saw with my tattoo), not a tag to say who I belong too. So the people that I hang out with that have tat's are not gang bangers etc. either not my scene. So I can see that with your experience and knowledge why you would pull over some people because they are who they are and do what they do and you are out to stop them prior to anything happening. Yeah I wouldn't tell your friend what his daughters tat means. BTW, I am a Sales Engineer with a Cisco Systems Partner, so my attire is professional looking but that is work and after work is my own time and life. My tat's do not and will not extend into my lower arms or around the neck, just is not a professional image that our customers want to see. My work knows I have the tat's but because they are hidden it is not a problem. mate

Thanks Steven, I appreciate your understanding.