Don’t go for a ride on Tuesday, January 2nd

You’ll have a 5.5% higher chance of crashing your bike

If you go for a ride on Tuesday, January 2 2018, there’s a 5% higher chance that you’ll crash your bike and be killed than if you ride tomorrow. The same goes for January 31, March 2, March 31, April 30 and every 29.5 days after that. Why? Because research in the British Medical Journal has shown that you have a 5.49% higher chance of a fatal crash on a full moon. It’s even worse on a super moon.

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According to Donald Redelmeier and Eldar Shafir, in a report published in the British Medical Journal, there were 494 full moons between January 1975 and December 2014. From the afternoon of those full moons, to the morning after, there were 4494 fatal motorcycle crashes in the US. This means there are 9.1 fatal crashes on average during a full moon, compared to 8.6 fatal crashes on any other day, which is a 5.49% increase. Even accounting for age, bike and other factors the results stayed the same. Even more worryingly, the effect is heightened when there’s a supermoon resulting a shocking 22% increase in fatal accidents.

The authors are unsure what the cause of this may be, other than distracted riders and drivers staring at the moon. Either way, if Tuesday is your first day back at work next year maybe consider getting the bus home.

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