Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

9,353 CRASHES IN
MONTGOMERY, MD
2021

All metrics benchmarked against2020

In 2021, Montgomery County recorded 9,353 total traffic crashes, a 15.9% increase from the 8,070 crashes reported in 2020. While total crashes and injuries rose, the number of fatalities decreased from 39 to 29. A notable year-over-year shift was the 23.4% increase in hit-and-run crashes, which grew from 1,590 in 2020 to 1,962 in 2021.

9,353

15.9%was 8,070

Total Crash Events

29

-25.6%was 39

Persons Killed

3,184

11.6%was 2,854

Persons Injured

1,962

23.4%was 1,590

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (29) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (33) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 44 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic crashes in Montgomery County trended upward in 2021, increasing by 15.9% from 8,070 to 9,353. The number of persons injured also rose by 11.6%, from 2,854 to 3,184. In contrast to this trend, total fatalities saw a 25.6% decrease, falling from 39 in 2020 to 29 in 2021.

1,962

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2021

23.4% vs prior (1,590)

Hit-and-run incidents increased from 2020 to 2021. The total count of hit-and-run crashes rose from 1,590 to 1,962, a 23.4% increase. The hit-and-run rate, as a percentage of all crashes, also trended upward, increasing from 19.7% in 2020 to 21.0% in 2021.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

7

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 14-50.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

22

Motorists Killed

Prior: 220.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 2-100.0%

288

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 294-2.0%

109

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 128-14.8%

2,762

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2,40215.0%

25

Other Injured

Prior: 30-16.7%

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained consistent between 2020 and 2021. Friday was the peak day for crashes in both years, with the count increasing from 1,356 to 1,519. Similarly, the 5 PM hour remained the peak time for collisions, with the number of incidents during that hour rising from 618 in 2020 to 735 in 2021.

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes increased, the severity profile shifted year-over-year. The fatal crash rate per 100 crashes decreased from 0.50 in 2020 to 0.35 in 2021, corresponding with a drop in total fatalities from 39 to 29. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 69.1% to 70.6%, while the share of possible injury crashes declined from 16.4% to 15.1%.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 33 fatal crash events resulted in 29 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal29fatal crashes0.3%
-25.6%prior 39
Serious Injury184serious injury crashes2%
19.5%prior 154
Minor Injury1,077minor injury crashes11.5%
14.5%prior 941
Possible Injury1,416possible injury crashes15.1%
7.1%prior 1,322
No Injury6,603no injury crashes70.6%
18.4%prior 5,577

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top three contributing factors were consistent across both periods: 'RAIN, SNOW, WET', 'N/A, WET', and 'ANIMAL, N/A'. However, the number of crashes attributed to these top factors decreased in 2021 despite the overall increase in total crashes. Crashes involving 'RAIN, SNOW, WET' fell by count from 622 to 450, and those with 'N/A, WET' as a factor dropped from 445 to 375.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

RAIN, SNOW, WET450 (4.8%)-27.7%prior 622
N/A, WET375 (4%)-15.7%prior 445
ANIMAL, N/A58 (0.6%)-14.7%prior 68
SLEET, HAIL, FREEZ. RAIN, WET50 (0.5%)25.0%prior 40
N/A, VISION OBSTRUCTION (INCL. BLINDED BY SUN)46 (0.5%)9.5%prior 42
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, SLEET, HAIL, FREEZ. RAIN43 (0.5%)377.8%prior 9
N/A, RAIN, SNOW43 (0.5%)-18.9%prior 53
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, N/A41 (0.4%)51.9%prior 27
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, RAIN, SNOW36 (0.4%)12.5%prior 32
BACKUP DUE TO REGULAR CONGESTION, N/A33 (0.4%)94.1%prior 17

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in 2021 occurred more frequently in clear and dry conditions compared to 2020. The proportion of crashes in clear weather rose from 65.9% to 71.6% of all crashes, while crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 66.0% to 71.0%. Correspondingly, the absolute number of crashes in rain decreased from 1,094 to 836, and incidents on wet roads fell from 1,428 to 1,146.

Weather

Clear6,699 (78.3%)
26.0%prior 5,318
Cloudy846 (9.9%)
5.8%prior 800
Rain836 (9.8%)
-23.6%prior 1,094
Snow54 (0.6%)
28.6%prior 42
Wintry Mix39 (0.5%)
160.0%prior 15
Sleet Or Hail26 (0.3%)
160.0%prior 10
Fog, Smog, Smoke26 (0.3%)
-44.7%prior 47
Other20 (0.2%)
81.8%prior 11
Severe Crosswinds7 (0.1%)
0.0%prior 7
Blowing Snow1 (0.0%)

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight5,923 (64.6%)
20.3%prior 4,924
Dark - Lighted2,420 (26.4%)
8.9%prior 2,223
Dark - Not Lighted304 (3.3%)
-13.6%prior 352
Dusk216 (2.4%)
18.0%prior 183
Dawn181 (2.0%)
15.3%prior 157
Dark - Unknown Lighting103 (1.1%)
-2.8%prior 106
Other18 (0.2%)
12.5%prior 16

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry6,634 (83.7%)
24.5%prior 5,327
Wet1,146 (14.5%)
-19.7%prior 1,428
Ice/Frost67 (0.8%)
67.5%prior 40
Snow36 (0.5%)
9.1%prior 33
Slush28 (0.4%)
211.1%prior 9
Water (standing, moving)5 (0.1%)
Other3 (0.0%)
-50.0%prior 6
Mud, Dirt, Gravel2 (0.0%)
Oil1 (0.0%)

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The most common vehicle makes involved in crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford ranking as the top three in both 2020 and 2021. The counts for these makes increased in 2021, in line with the overall rise in total crashes. Similarly, Passenger Cars, (Sport) Utility Vehicles, and Pickup Trucks were the top three vehicle types involved in collisions for both periods, with all categories seeing an increase in volume.

Top Vehicle Makes (16,208 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA2,290 (14.1%)
14.2%prior 2,005
2
HONDA1,883 (11.6%)
15.4%prior 1,632
3
FORD1,607 (9.9%)
12.6%prior 1,427
4
NISSAN782 (4.8%)
0.4%prior 779
5
TOYT733 (4.5%)
25.1%prior 586
6
HOND513 (3.2%)
46.6%prior 350
7
DODGE456 (2.8%)
6.3%prior 429
8
HYUNDAI386 (2.4%)
19.9%prior 322
9
JEEP385 (2.4%)
21.1%prior 318
10
CHEVROLET366 (2.3%)
11.6%prior 328

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) (https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/d/bhju-22kf), accessed programmatically via the Socrata Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: Socrata Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Dataset URL: https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/d/bhju-22kf
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: montgomery, MD
  • Total crash records analyzed: 9,353
  • Total persons involved: 16,689
  • Total vehicles involved: 16,208

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "montgomery, MD Crash Intelligence Report: 2021." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31. Data source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS), Socrata Open Data. Dataset: https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/d/bhju-22kf. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/maryland/statewide/2021-annual-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

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