Driving Lee County's roads can seem dangerous no matter the time or day, but there are times when the odds of an accident are greater than other times.
A look at crash data provided by Lee County's Metropolitan Planning Organization found afternoon rush hour the most likely time for crashes.
Crashes start ramping up Monday through Friday around 6 a.m., reaching its peak at 4 to 5 p.m. and then tapering off by 7 p.m., according to MPO data for Lee County roads from Jan. 1, 2015, through the beginning of March this year.
The highest concentration of crashes happens at the 4 to 6 p.m. window with 900 to 1,100 crashes reported in those two hours Monday through Friday. The noon to 3 p.m. hours and 6 p.m. hour are next with crashes totaling in the 700 to almost 1,000 crashes level.
Weekends trend a bit different with a small bump in the midnight to 3 a.m. period and a smaller daytime surge from around 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The fewest accident happen during the week at 3 a.m. where the numbers ranged from 21 to 34 depending on the day.
Jim Maddox, of North Fort Myers, who said he drives his pickup about 100 miles a day, thought the results would have been different.
"I thought it would more around lunchtime," he said as he gassed up his truck at a Shell station on Metro Parkway.."People are in a hurry coming to and from lunch, smacking into each other. It really surprises me."
The concentration of crashes at specific hours says more about Southwest Florida's drivers than other factors, such as the weather, said Don Scott, executive director of the MPO.
Distracted driving, especially in the afternoon and evening hours, also plays a factor, he said.
"Obviously there are less crashes at night because there are less people," Scott said.
The numbers pan out how people conduct their lives these days, said Syndi Bultman, an injury prevention resource coordinator for the Trauma Center at Lee Health.
"People are just too distracted," she said. "People don't slow down, they're too much in a hurry."
She said the large Friday afternoon numbers prove her point with the highest crash number coming at the 4 p.m. hour when people are starting their homeward trek from work.
"People are on their way home, starting to decide what to do for the weekend or trying to call home to see what to make for dinner," she said.
Bultman, Scott and others are involved in an effort called Driving Down Fatalities to bring together law enforcement, health care, private organizations, high school students and residents to discuss fatal crashes in Southwest Florida and develop a communitywide plan to improve and work on reducing fatalities.
Last year, 116 people died on Lee County roads. It was the second straight year fatalities topped 100. The last time that happened was 2006-07, before the recession hit.
With weekdays between 3 and 5 p.m. showing as the peak time, Jay Anderson, executive director of Stay Alive .... Just Drive! Inc., and a driving instructor, said he wasn't surprised to see Friday as the worst.
"Everyone's in a hurry to get home," he said. This is also why data collection is so important, these are the crashes that can be reduced through enforcement, education and engineering."
Information on when and where crashes occur is also relevant to law enforcement.
For the Florida Highway Patrol, traffic enforcement coincides with peak travel times.
"The stats seem consistent with what peak travel times are with work, school etc.," said Lt. Greg Bueno, with the FHP's Public Affairs Division in Southwest Florida. "The FHP focuses on areas that are prone for crashes throughout the state … crashes occur 24/7 and range in severity and circumstances. We have minimum staffing levels that vary depending on time of day with late morning into afternoon and early evening hours being the highest levels which coincide with peak travel times."
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Crash Numbers
Worst times and day for crashes
1106 - Friday 4 p.m.
1056 - Wednesday 5 p.m.
1031 - Tuesday 5 p.m.
1014 - Thursday 5 p.m.
1013 - Wednesday 4 p.m.
1003 - Tuesday 4 p.m.
Safest times of day
21 - Tuesday 3 a.m.
30 - Wednesday 3 a.m.
34 - Thursday 3 a.m.
37 - Friday 3 a.m.
Source: Lee Metropolitan Planning Organization, Jan. 1, 2015 to March 6, 2018