(Fri 13 Jan 06)

Today is Friday 13 and we are being warned to take more care on the roads this evening. While the RAC Foundation says that the link between Friday 13 and road accidents is tenuous, the proof of a connection between Fridays generally and having an accident is irrefutable.

The only study to look at this possible association was undertaken more than ten years ago and published in the British Medical Journal. It concluded that the risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52% on Friday 13.

"Friday and in particular Friday evening is definitely the worst day of the week for fatalities and serious injuries on the road," says Edmund King executive director of the RAC Foundation.

"But the figures from the Friday 13 study might be more to do with human psychology than luck. People who believe in the superstition could be more anxious and drive less well making the likelihood of an accident more pronounced."

From the latest Government statistics - Road Casualties Great Britain 2004 - the Foundation has found that more car users are killed and injured between 4pm and 6pm on a Friday night than at any other time during the week. The 2004 figures showed that at this time on Fridays, 352 car users were killed or seriously injured, while at the same time on any other weekday it's 287.

This anomoly is put down to the "thank God it's Friday" effect, whereby motorists switch off, tired after a long week. As the majority of injury accidents happen in urban or residential areas, close to home, it seems that many drivers turn on to auto-pilot when a couple of miles away from their house - they know the roads and do not concentrate, leading to increased speeds and lack of hazard perception.

The Foundation concludes with a message: "Don't make Friday 13 an unlucky one for you or other road users".

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