jhershbine

I've been commuting for the last couple months, and one thing I've witnessed is that my Friday afternoon commute is the worst of the week. It seems to be the most dangerous trip I take each week. I can only assume it's due to people rushing home anxious to start the weekend, and being less cautious than they normally would be. Has anyone else seen this?

Jody

JavaMan

I agree. Friday morning is pretty light, but Friday afternoon is hectic. I try not to ride on Friday, or if I do, I try to leave early. If I plan on riding a fast group ride Saturday morning, I don't ride Friday anyway.
Tom

obscenesimian

Friday is indeed bad. It seems the traffic starts earlier, and the intensity is greater. I've also noticed that as soon as school starts it gets worse as well.

Guest

Friday is terrible. I get my riding over with in the morning, since the afternoon gets insane.

Koffee

crucible

Tell me why,

I don't like Mondays,

Tell me why,

I don't like Mondays...

George

blwyn

I see more absent minded and erratic driving on Friday mornings than anytime. Depite heavy traffic Friday afternoons seem to be pretty good around here. Sunday morning is the second most dangerous riding time from my experience. The "only on Sunday" and pissed about going to church crowds make it very dangerous.

Chris L

Friday is a pain in the butt, but it's not because of the extra traffic -- infact, the extra traffic is a blessing in these parts. Friday is a problem because every freaking moron in Queensland (they all live on the Gold Coast) is drunk by about 7 am. It's always fun dodging the morons careering out of control down the wrong side of the street.

As I said, the only good news is that there's plenty of gridlock, so I can ride most of my commute in relative safety.

my58vw

I would second the friday thing, I really hate the people who are so ancious to get to work and do not watch how they are driving as a consequence,,,

GradStudent

I read a study that said most cycling accidents (where the cyclist is hit by a car) happens on Fridays.

Juha

Traffic-wise all my commuting days are all pretty much the same. The flow of stupid cagers seems to be fairly steady, but I usually encounter them only at intersections, as I have a good selection of bike/ped paths to ride on.

Other than that my worst day is "one day". As in "I swear, one day I am going to clean up my bike."

--J

Alphie

Friday P.M. since my commute home does not usually start before 9:30 the chance of encountering a drunken
idiot on the roads is greatly increased.

RonH

I guess Atlanta drivers must be insane because they drive that way seven days a week, so I encounter the same craziness every day.
My worst day to commute is when it's raining. I get wet, my bike gets wet and grimy, and I get grumpy.
Atlanta drivers can't drive in the rain because they have just as many accidents (if not more) than in ice and snow.

Ed Holland

Oddly enough I find that Thursday mornings are the worst. Evenings are less of a problem since my journey is made after the worst of the rush period. There is a pattern of variation during the year too, with a steady build up of traffic following the return to school in september right through autumn & up to the christmas hols.

Cheers,

Ed

clevernamehere

If I had to pick a day, I'd probably say Friday as well, but what I find to be the worst time is any week-day from around 3:15 - 3:45pm. (I work from 6:30am to 3:00pm) I drive through 4 school zones on my typical route. I haven't decided yet who's worse, the inexperienced high-school kids showing off, the parents with everything but driving on their minds picking up their elementry school kids or the pedestrians who bolt out into the street without warning.

If I get going quick enough, I can usually avoid the worst of it though.

greenbreezer

From a traffic standpoint, it's not the day of the week, but the time of day. If I leave work just a tad early, I encounter the clueless parents que'd up in line to pick up their kiddies from school. It's just so amazing how their driving skills go right out the window during that time. You'd think they'd learn by observing each other ("My gosh, am I just as bad as the person in front of me?!") but I guess I'm too optimistic. Because of this, I'm usually not too anxious to leave work early.

From a physiological standpoint, Mondays are a hard ride cuz I usually do a long mountain bike ride on the weekend. I can still feel the fatigue in my legs on Mondays. But I'll take that over clueless drivers any day!

Michel Gagnon

Worst commute? Out in the suburbs, I would say Friday afternoon, when the rush hour tends to be more compact; however, I don't often commute there.

In the city, no specific day, but rather occasions:
- When it's just about to rain or it has just started to rain, and pedestrians try to outrun the rain. They don't look before they cross and behave like superlarge squirrels.
- A few centimetres of wet snow. Not enough to totally stop traffic, but just enough to really narrow streets. Makes for a nervous commute.
- Lots of snow. Traffic stops to a crawl and sidewalks are equally packed. I can do 2/3 of my ride on sidestreets which allow me to move a bit less slowly, but for the rest I have resorted to walking a few times.

ofofhy

Most of my commuting is through CC Philly, so it is a bunch of ducking and weaving around stopped cars. I would say that Friday afternoon here is the worst, but not because of the traffic or drivers. It is due to the pedestrians. There just seems to be an increase in the amount of people jumping out from between parked cars or crossing against lights. They wouldn't step in front of a car coming down the road, but they'll happily cause you to flat spot your tires.