In 1920s Detroit, traffic congestion became so severe that Henry Ford actually commissioned a study proposing that cars be painted only in black, white, or silver to make traffic flow visually predictable—the theory being that uniform color schemes would somehow reduce accidents by making vehicle positions easier for drivers to mentally track, a scheme that never gained traction but revealed how desperate early urban planners were to solve congestion through psychological manipulation rather than infrastructure.
Car Fact #18 — July 4, 2026
