Fire engines should be yellow, not red

• Insurance firm wants yellow fire engines
• Studies show yellow is more visible than red
• Red perceived as black at night

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An insurance broker has suggested that fire engines should be painted yellow, rather than red.

The call by yesinsurance.co.uk follows several studies which have indicated that vehicles painted with darker colours, such as red, are often less visible than those that are yellow.

Lime yellow is highlighted as one of the safest colours, because it can be more easily spotted by day and by night, as well as in snowy conditions when white vehicles are less noticeable.

However, although no study has proposed a definitive 'safest colour', all have suggested that lighter colours, such as white and yellow, are safer than dark colours.

'From an insurance point of view, we make no distinctions on colour, but where emergency vehicles are concerned, research seems to indicate that lime yellow is the most visible colour,' said the insurer's spokesman, Paul Purdy.