AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Unlucky for some? Dutch statisticians have established that Friday 13th, a date regarded in many countries as inauspicious, is actually safer than an average Friday.

A study published on Thursday by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) showed that fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays.

"I find it hard to believe that it is because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home, but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th," CVS statistician Alex Hoen told the Verzekerd insurance magazine.

In the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday, the CVS study said. But the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500.

There were also fewer incidents of fire and theft, although the average value of losses on Fridays 13th was slightly higher.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080612/od_nm/luck_odd_dc
(Reporting by Tineke van der Struik; Editing by Catherine Evans)

It's Monday the 13ths that really suck!

Bah, that's if you believe in "science".

I prefer to rely on hundreds of years of mindless cultural tradition to guide the decisions I make.

The "Friday the 13th" concept is bullshit, but this only appearance of same for 2008 was especially shitty, both at work, and in my commute.

For instance, my bus commute (all of almost 4 miles) back home featured 2 wheelchair embarkations and two wheelchair disembarkations.

The initial wheelchair disembarkation featured a woman without any arms or legs which I found more depressing than casserole cookery and I also wondered what was in her Nordstrom's shopping bag in the rear-basket attached to her "vehicle." Were the sleeves cut off expertly by the clerk beforehand, or would it be up to her caretaker to do so later?

The bus scheduled for 15 minutes later eventually passed my bus while it was first embarking, rejecting for some reason or another, then disembarking the same wheelchair person.

At work, the majority of the department was out due to scheduled vacation, illness or Office 2007 training, so I didn't have any free time to troll elbo.ws, Metafilter, Tastespotting or Crooks and Lairs.

It sucked if you were Tim Russert or Charlie Jones.