Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

565 CRASHES IN
MONTGOMERY, MD
JANUARY 2021

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2020

In January 2021, Montgomery County recorded 565 vehicle crashes, a 40.2% decrease from the 944 crashes documented in January 2020. This year-over-year decline was accompanied by a significant drop in related casualties, with total injuries falling from 371 to 174 and fatalities decreasing from 3 to 1. The most notable shift was the substantial reduction in overall crash volume across the county.

565

-40.1%was 944

Total Crash Events

1

-66.7%was 3

Persons Killed

174

-53.1%was 371

Persons Injured

113

-17.5%was 137

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

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

Trend Summary

Traffic safety metrics in Montgomery County showed a significant downward trend in January 2021 compared to the same month in the prior year. Total crashes fell by 40.2%, from 944 to 565 incidents. Similarly, the number of people injured in these collisions decreased by 53.1% year-over-year, from 371 to 174.

113

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2021

-17.5% vs prior (137)

Although the total number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 137 in January 2020 to 113 in January 2021, the hit-and-run rate trended upward. Hit-and-run incidents accounted for 20.0% of all crashes in the current period, an increase from the 14.5% rate observed in the prior year. This indicates that while overall crashes declined, a larger proportion of the remaining crashes were hit-and-runs.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 3-66.7%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

23

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 49-53.1%

5

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 6-16.7%

146

Motorists Injured

Prior: 315-53.7%

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

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes in January 2021 were broadly similar to the prior year, though with lower volumes. Friday remained the peak day for crashes in both periods, with 103 incidents in 2021 compared to 190 in 2020. The peak hour for collisions shifted slightly earlier, from 6 p.m. in 2020 (79 crashes) to 5 p.m. in 2021 (56 crashes).

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes decreased in January 2021 compared to the previous year, with the fatal crash rate falling from 0.32% to 0.18%. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) also declined from 33.0% of all incidents in 2020 to 26.2% in 2021. Consequently, the share of no-injury crashes increased from 66.5% to 73.5% of the total.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.2%
-66.7%prior 3
Serious Injury13serious injury crashes2.3%
-38.1%prior 21
Minor Injury52minor injury crashes9.2%
-53.2%prior 111
Possible Injury83possible injury crashes14.7%
-53.9%prior 180
No Injury415no injury crashes73.5%
-33.9%prior 628

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Adverse weather and road conditions were the leading contributing factors in both periods, though the number of such crashes decreased significantly. The top factor, 'RAIN, SNOW, WET,' saw its crash count fall from 63 to 26, a 58.7% decrease. Similarly, crashes attributed to 'N/A, WET' dropped from 62 to 19, a 69.4% decline in count. Despite the overall drop, crashes citing 'ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, N/A' as a factor increased from 7 to 13 incidents year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

RAIN, SNOW, WET26 (4.6%)-58.7%prior 63
N/A, WET19 (3.4%)-69.4%prior 62
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, N/A13 (2.3%)85.7%prior 7
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, RAIN, SNOW12 (2.1%)9.1%prior 11
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, SLEET, HAIL, FREEZ. RAIN9 (1.6%)
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, V WIPERS|W OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL5 (0.9%)
SLEET, HAIL, FREEZ. RAIN, WET3 (0.5%)-66.7%prior 9
ANIMAL, N/A3 (0.5%)-50.0%prior 6
DEBRIS OR OBSTRUCTION, N/A2 (0.4%)
ICY OR SNOW-COVERED, N/A, WET2 (0.4%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in January 2021 occurred under generally better conditions compared to the same month in 2020. The proportion of collisions on wet road surfaces decreased from 19.4% to 12.7% year-over-year, and crashes during rainy weather fell from 12.2% to 6.9% of the monthly total. Conversely, the share of crashes on dry roads increased from 64.5% to 66.7%, while the proportions of crashes in daylight versus dark conditions remained stable.

Weather

Clear379 (73.7%)
-35.0%prior 583
Cloudy60 (11.7%)
-45.0%prior 109
Rain39 (7.6%)
-66.1%prior 115
Snow14 (2.7%)
-26.3%prior 19
Wintry Mix9 (1.8%)
50.0%prior 6
Sleet Or Hail5 (1.0%)
-28.6%prior 7
Other5 (1.0%)
Fog, Smog, Smoke2 (0.4%)
-77.8%prior 9
Blowing Snow1 (0.2%)

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

Lighting

Daylight295 (53.9%)
-40.5%prior 496
Dark - Lighted195 (35.6%)
-40.9%prior 330
Dark - Not Lighted22 (4.0%)
-47.6%prior 42
Dusk15 (2.7%)
-34.8%prior 23
Dawn12 (2.2%)
-55.6%prior 27
Dark - Unknown Lighting5 (0.9%)
-61.5%prior 13
Other3 (0.5%)

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

Road Surface

Dry377 (77.1%)
-38.1%prior 609
Wet72 (14.7%)
-60.7%prior 183
Ice/Frost24 (4.9%)
41.2%prior 17
Snow14 (2.9%)
40.0%prior 10
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.2%)
Slush1 (0.2%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford leading in both January 2021 and January 2020. While the total number of vehicles in collisions decreased, the ranking of these top makes did not change. Passenger cars continued to be the most common vehicle type, accounting for 68.8% of vehicles in 2021, a slight decrease from their 70.6% share in the prior year.

Top Vehicle Makes (935 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA124 (13.3%)
-45.6%prior 228
2
HONDA121 (12.9%)
-34.9%prior 186
3
FORD111 (11.9%)
-27.0%prior 152
4
NISSAN52 (5.6%)
-46.4%prior 97
5
TOYT29 (3.1%)
-63.7%prior 80
6
DODGE29 (3.1%)
-47.3%prior 55
7
BMW26 (2.8%)
0.0%prior 26
8
HYUNDAI25 (2.7%)
-41.9%prior 43
9
HOND24 (2.6%)
-57.9%prior 57
10
CHEVY23 (2.5%)
-23.3%prior 30

Source: Montgomery County Crash Reporting (ACRS) · Socrata Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-01-31 · 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 2021-01-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2021-01-01 through 2021-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: montgomery, MD
  • Total crash records analyzed: 565
  • Total persons involved: 966
  • Total vehicles involved: 935

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: January 2021." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2021-01-31. 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/january-2021-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company