FRIDAY 13 could mean bad luck for road users with more deaths and injuries on Friday evenings than at any other time of the week.

There is irrefutable evidence that driving on a Friday is more dangerous than any other day of the week, according to the RAC Foundation.

The only study to look at this possible association (Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" British Medical Journal. Dec. 18-25, 1993) was undertaken more than 10 years ago and 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.

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

'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.'

The RAC Foundation has analysed the latest Government statistics - Road Casualties Great Britain 2004 - to look for road accident trends and found more car users are killed and injured between 4 and 6pm on a Friday night than at any other time during the week.

The 2004 figures show that on Fridays:

Between 4pm and6pm 352 car users were killed or seriously injured

On any other weekday:

Between 4pm and 6pm it’s 287

The early evening fatal Friday trend is also reflected in the figures for cyclists and pedestrians.

The fatal Friday phenomenon, is probably caused by motorists switching off early, fatigue after a long week and the 'thank God it’s Friday' effect.