The most dangerous date to be on the road is January 18, research has warned.

Car insurance firm Admiral looked at the 1.8 million accident reports it has received over the past 15 years and found that January 18 has seen the highest number of accidents compared to any other date of the year.

Admiral also discovered that Friday is the day of the week on which most accidents occur.

December 20 is the second most dangerous date, with October 27 third, March 22 fourth and July 20 fifth.

Other days to avoid driving are October 1, October 21, November 1, December 15 and October 20.

The date with the least reported incidents is February 29 - which is to be expected considering that the date only occurs every four years!

Sue Longthorn, Admiral: "It's not surprising to see that the worst day of the week for accidents is a Friday as people are tired after a long week at work and can easily get caught up thinking about their weekend plans instead of the road ahead."

Sunday is the safest day of the week, followed by Saturday, Admiral said.

Admiral managing director Sue Longthorn said: "It's not surprising to see that the worst day of the week for accidents is a Friday as people are tired after a long week at work and can easily get caught up thinking about their weekend plans instead of the road ahead.

"In fact, there's a direct correlation between the days getting later in the week and the amount of accidents increasing up to the weekend."

However, Longthorn said it was difficult to explain why there were so many accidents on January 18.

"In terms of the January 18 being dangerous, it's difficult to say for certain why this is, but it could be that people have a lot on their mind as they haven't been paid for a while, the bills are coming in, it's dark, the weather's often foul and the fun of the festive period is a long and distant memory."

Other safe dates include December 25 and 26, according to Admiral's research.

Longthorn added: "It makes sense that the days where we've seen the least accidents are February 29, and December 25 and 26 as this is when least people are driving.

"However, this year there is a 29th February, and it's on a Friday, so the number of accidents might jump up sharply!"

The article Cars 'more likely to crash on January 18' originally appeared on 999 Today