Note: no animals were harmed in any of the experiments that did not involve
animals.
Many auto shops and tires stores advertise 'whitewall' tires
or 'raised white letter' tires without specifying what benefit
the whiter tires give to the owner.
The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether
white tires make cars go faster than black tires.
We expect that the color of the tire has no effect on the speed
of the car.
One 100 pound bag of white marking chalk from an athletic supply store.
Tires were marked by pouring chalk across both lanes of a major
highway from an overpass in the pre-dawn light traffic conditions
before the morning commute.
On returning later that morning to observe the effects, we noticed that
traffic in both directions was moving very slowly before reaching the
chalk. After the tires became well coated with chalk, traffic seemed
to move at well above the normal morning commute speeds.
The hypothesis was not confirmed.
Despite what morning radio reports described as a particularly bad
day for morning commuters, cars with white tires were found to be moving
much faster than those with black tires.
Further research will determine whether any white powder has the same
effect, or whether chalk is necessary. We are currently looking for
funding or donations for a 100 pound bag of powdered cocaine, to see
if stimulants increase the effect.