Your intimate relationship with your car. Should you worry?

Researchers from diverse parts of the globe, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, New Zealand, and Canada have made some unusual observations about the relationships people have with their cars. This includes what your car colour choices may reveal, and what applying a gender and a name to your vehicle may indicate about you. Even the astrological implications regarding the likelihood of accidents have been looked at.

Seriously folks, it's true:

Colorado State University psychology professor Jacob Benfield and his colleagues concluded in the journal: "Personality and Individual Differences," that about one quarter of people named their cars, and about half thought of their cars as either masculine or feminine.

His study also concluded that people who name their cars and apply a gender to them, "scored significantly higher than non-naming-vehicle-drivers on verbal aggression, physical aggression, driving anger and pejorative labeling/verbally aggressive thinking" - all of which would suggest a higher likelihood of car insurance issues somewhere down the road.

For anyone who occasionally wonders if some researchers have too much time on their hands, consider the following:

From Wikipedia:

"A Swedish study found pink cars safest, with black cars most likely to be involved in crashes (Land transport NZ 2005)."

"An Auckland, New Zealand study found a significantly lower risk of serious injury in silver cars; with high risks for brown, black, and green cars. (Furness et al, 2003)"

Because details are a bit sketchy, one is forced to wonder whether the researchers in the Swedish study applied any equalization to their calculations. Seriously, how many pink cars have you seen lately? Perhaps pink is a more popular colour for cars in Sweden, but we've never even seen a pink Volvo. Also, consider how many black cars there are on the roads. Is this the real reason that black cars appear to be more likely to be involved in an accident? Or are they harder to see at night? We can't say for sure, and apparently neither can the car insurance companies, or else they'd charge accordingly.

According to colormatters dot com, the colour you choose for your car gives some insight into your personality. Apparently, if you choose:

White You could be status-seeking and an extrovert.

Black You're somewhat more likely to be aggressive, an outsider or a rebel.

Silver You're probably cool, calm and slightly aloof - probably ambitious too.

Green It could be an indication of hysterical tendencies.

Blue It's likely that you're reflective, introspective and cautious.

Gray You're dedicated to work, and generally a calm and sober individual.

Yellow You probably like novelty and are idealistic.

Red You move and talk quickly and you're full of zest, energy and drive.

Pink You're probably a kind, loving, gentle and affectionate person.

Cream It could indicate a self-contained and controlled individual.

We have yet to find an auto insurance company that asks what the colour of your car is when determining your car insurance rates, and, thank goodness for that. What would be next? Questions about your astrological sign?

In fact, some researchers in the U.S. and Canada, have gone so far as far as to try to correlate Astrological Signs with a higher or lower likelihood of auto accidents. Fortunately for us, each study seems to come to a different conclusion.

Imagine the following: "Yes Mrs. Smith, we know that you've had a perfect driving record for the last fifteen years, but it concerns us that you keep referring to your vehicle as "My Black Stallion," and also, we see here by your birth date, that you're a Pisces with an Aries moon and Aquarius rising. The data strongly suggests that your luck simply can't hold out much longer, so, we're going to have to cancel your auto insurance policy."

Thankfully, the actuaries who develop the calculations that auto insurance companies use to determine auto insurance premiums, continue to remain "skeptical" of any apparent correlations, and continue to look to the more traditional, statistically relevant and somewhat more "boring" methods of calculating your auto insurance risk, namely:

• Your age and location.
• Your previous driving record.
• And, the type of vehicle that you drive.

Smart folks those actuaries.

Now if an actuary were giving you advice on your car insurance premiums, they'd tell you to shop around for several quotes before you buy. They may even recommend Kanetix as the best place to get your car insurance quote, to save you both time and money.

Besides, the alignment of the stars today, suggest that it's a great day for finding a little extra coin in your pocket.