JohnQ
|
To answer your question simply, green cars are no more dangerous than any other color car. Luck is not a tangible, measurable quality, but if you want to measure by race car wins/losses or car accidents, color plays no special importance. However, the green car superstition is one that has been around for a long time and permeates throughout the sport of auto racing.
The association with the color green and bad luck has been around since before cars, but this superstition seems to be limited to Great Britain and the United States and can be traced back thousands of years when green forest spirits were said to cause mischief and harm to human beings.
The green superstition then moved into the realm of theater. Stage actors have held that green is bad luck for centuries. Some historians also claim that disaster befalls a country after they issue a prominently green postage stamp. In addition, if a bride doesn’t want to wear white, green is the last color that should be chosen due the color’s ability to bring bad luck.
The exact start of the green car superstition is unknown, but it has evolved into a belief that green cars suffer from breakdowns and require more repairs than other color cars. Some people go so far as to say green cars are known to make sudden surges forward or to the side, impacting with other objects and cars outside of the control of the driver.
Many of those involved in auto racing believe in the green car superstition and sometimes take it a little further. In one story, 1962 and 1963 NASCAR champion Joe Weatherly got caught in the rain. His poorly colored blue socks turned green, and he would not continue the race until he removed them.
One theory of how the green car superstition entered auto racing is that a couple of serious accidents occurred when the sport was still young, and the belief has persisted ever since. In Syracuse in 1911, 11 spectators were killed and 10 injured when a green car went out of control and through a fence. Also, in 1920, racecar driver and auto manufacturer Gaston Chevrolet died in a race when a green car collided with his.
Although green cars have been involved in some accidents, the chances are no higher than that of any other car. The following video will tell you if you are superstitious about green cars or not. If you are, you will say the green car caused the accident. If you are not, you will note that the green car comes out unscathed.
 Posted 4836 day ago
|