‘Everybody Says Red, But…:' Car Dealership Workers Share Which Car Color ‘Gets Pulled Over the Most'

Motor 1

13-07-2025

According to a group of dealership employees on TikTok, red is still the top suspect in the lineup of "cars most likely to get pulled over." Is that based on fact or just feeling?
The clip, which has been viewed over 714,000 times, originates from the Kia of Clarksville (@kiaofclarksville) dealership in Indiana. Ten office and shop employees are asked by social media manager Claudia Fiorello what color car they believe is most likely to attract the attention of law enforcement. With only a couple of caveats, everyone said red vehicles have a bad reputation.
The Red Car Myth: Where Did It Come From?
For decades, red cars have carried a reputation as magnets for speeding tickets. The logic feels intuitive: red is bold, aggressive, eye-catching, the color of fast Ferraris and flashy Mustangs. But is there any truth to the myth?
Psychologically, red has long been associated with urgency and intensity. According to color
psychology studies
, red can evoke strong emotional reactions and draw the eye more quickly than neutral tones, which may explain why it feels more visible on the road.
Pop culture hasn't helped the case for red, either. From Ferris Bueller's 1961 Ferrari 250 GT to the countless crimson Lambos in music videos, red has been the cinematic shorthand for speed and rebellion. Even car commercials often
pair red paint
with performance trim to evoke a sense of excitement.
What the Stats Say
Despite what TikTok or your cousin with the radar detector might say, there's no clear evidence that red cars get pulled over more often than other colors. The data around this long-standing myth is surprisingly thin and often misunderstood.
Let's start with what we do know: Red cars make up a relatively small portion of vehicles on US roads. According to the 2023 Axalta Global Automotive
Color Popularity Report
, red accounted for 4% of new car colors globally, while white, black, and gray collectively dominated the landscape at over 70%.
That matters because exposure affects enforcement statistics. More white and gray cars on the road means more of them are pulled over, simply because there are more of them to begin with. This is known as population bias, and it skews
public perception
about which colors are truly more 'visible' to police.
When people ask whether police pull over red cars more often, most expert responses point back to behavior and visibility, not the color itself. Valley Collision, a collision center, notes in
its blog
that although red and white cars tend to get more attention, there's no official data linking color to citations, with white often leading due to sheer numbers.
On the insurance side, the Insurance Information Institute is
categorical
: 'color doesn't actually factor into your auto insurance costs' when it comes to policy rates. Insurers focus on vehicle type, driver history, usage, and location, not paint color.
The Real Factors Behind Getting Pulled Over
While red cars may get a bad reputation, police don't pull over drivers based solely on color. In reality, the contributing factors are largely determined by how the car is driven and its type.
Speeding remains the leading reason for traffic stops across the US, followed by equipment violations, distracted driving, and expired registrations, according to data from the
Bureau of Justice Statistics
. Officers are trained to observe behavior, not aesthetics.
Vehicle type can play a role, though. Sports cars, modified vehicles, and luxury models with loud exhausts or tinted windows are more likely to stand out. A
2025 report
by Insurify found that drivers of models like the Subaru BRZ, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Volkswagen GTI, and Chevrolet Cruze Unlimited were more likely to have speeding violations, not because of their color, but because of how those vehicles are often driven.
Location and timing matter, too. Urban areas with heavy patrol coverage or regions with known speed traps
tend to produce
more stops, especially during peak enforcement hours.
Motor1
reached out to Fiorello via email and direct message.
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