I can still remember the sheer, forehead-slapping, face-palming stupidity of it. Actual, real politicians (ok, so one of them was a Healy-Rae) were standing up in Dail Eireann and declaiming the fact that Ireland was blundering into an unlucky numberplate, with a 13 on it. The sky is falling! The giant ants are chasing me! And, there's a 13 on my numberplate! Aaaaaaaarrgqgghhhhh!!!!
Remember that? There really were genuine fears that people would avoid buying cars in 2013 because the numberplate had an unlucky 13 on it. It was believed to lead to the massive change in our registration plate system (which had far more to do with the industry trying to spread sales out more evenly through the year) yet still left a 13 on the plate - there was just an extra 1 in front of it.
Of course, as with pretty much any superstition, the fear of the number 13 is all just cobblers - it's based on a number of ancient fears, many of them associated with religion (Jesus had 12 apostles so what's this suspicious number 13 doing over here. etc. etc...) and with Friday also being considered an unlucky day in many cultures (again for us, it's religion based - Good Friday and all that) the combo of the 13th day of the month falling on a Friday is enough to have many of us all heebie-jeebied up.
Actually, about ten per cent of the population suffers from real triskadekatriaphobia, which is an irrational fear of the number 13, and a smaller number again suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia, which is fear of Friday the 13th. But, aside from people spouting silly, pointless aphorisms at us ("unlucky for some, eh pal?") do we actually have anything to fear on Friday the 13th?
No, don't be stupid. It's just an entirely random combination of day and number, and if the Gregorian calendar hadn't been replaced by the Julian one in the Middle Ages, then it wouldn't have fallen on this day anyway, so it's totally arbitrary.
As a matter of fact, from a motoring perspective, Friday the 13th actually seems to be a rather good thing. Research carried out by Chill.ie insurance has found that road traffic collisions actually decrease, by around 14 per cent, on a Friday that falls on the 13th. Likewise, insurers in The Netherlands found that Friday the 13th usually sees fewer insurance claims being filed than an average Friday. Why? No one really knows for sure, but it's possible that people are just being that little bit more careful, simply because they're worried about bad luck occurring. Research into dangling a black cat from a broken wing mirror while carrying a ladder on the roof is sadly still inconclusive (and entirely fictional, before you ask...).
So, if you have somewhere to drive tomorrow and you're worried about it being Friday the 13th, don't be - you're just giving into the irrational, cave-man part of your brain that's also scared of the dark and horror movies. Stand upright and be a rational member of the human race and instead of worrying about silly old superstitions, why not try doing something useful to improve your chances of having a trouble-free journey - fill up your windscreen washers, check your tyre pressures or make sure your headlights and tail-lights are all working properly.
All of which will serve to make you a better, safer driver on any day of the month. Friday the 13th is just a number, so ease your furrowed brow and relax.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a cheerleader conference at the old, abandoned campsite tomorrow and I really need to dig out my hockey mask...