Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

23 CRASHES IN
ACTON, MA
NOVEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstNovember 2023

Total crashes in Acton for November 2024 decreased by 20.7% to 23, down from 29 crashes in November 2023. This period saw a notable shift in collision types, with single vehicle crashes decreasing from 13 to 6, while angle collisions increased from 3 to 7. Total injuries also decreased by 27.3%, from 11 to 8.

23

-20.7%was 29

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

8

-27.3%was 11

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (0) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (0) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for Acton shows a downward trend year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 20.7% from 29 in November 2023 to 23 in November 2024. Concurrently, total injuries also saw a significant reduction, dropping by 27.3% from 11 to 8 over the same period. Fatalities remained at zero in both November 2023 and November 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 10-20.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes showed some shifts year-over-year. While Thursday remained a peak day for crashes, its count decreased from 8 in November 2023 to 5 in November 2024. The peak hour for crashes remained 8 AM in both periods, though the count slightly decreased from 5 crashes in November 2023 to 4 crashes in November 2024. Notably, crashes on Sundays increased from 0 to 2, while crashes on Mondays and Fridays decreased.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes in Acton changed between the two periods, with no fatalities reported in either November 2023 or November 2024. Minor injuries decreased substantially, from 7 in November 2023 to 2 in November 2024, representing a 71.4% reduction. Conversely, possible injuries increased from 2 to 4, and the proportion of crashes resulting in any injury decreased from 31.0% in the prior year to 26.1% in the current year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes8.7%
-71.4%prior 7
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes17.4%
100.0%prior 2
No Injury17no injury crashes73.9%
-15.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors showed changes in crash counts year-over-year, impacting their relative rankings. Crashes attributed to "Inattention" decreased by 2, from 6 to 4, and "Followed too closely" decreased by 3, from 5 to 2. In contrast, "Failed to yield right of way" increased by 3 crashes, from 1 in November 2023 to 4 in November 2024, becoming a more prominent factor. The factor "No improper driving" remained consistent with 5 crashes in both periods, becoming the top factor in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving5 (21.7%)0.0%prior 5
Inattention4 (17.4%)-33.3%prior 6
Failed to yield right of way4 (17.4%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (13%)
Followed too closely2 (8.7%)-60.0%prior 5
Driving too fast for conditions1 (4.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.3%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Adverse weather conditions were associated with fewer crashes in November 2024 compared to the prior year, with crashes in cloudy or rainy conditions decreasing from 7 to 3. Crashes on wet road surfaces also slightly decreased from 3 to 2. However, the proportion of crashes occurring during non-daylight hours increased from 27.6% in November 2023 to 34.8% in November 2024, even though the absolute number of such crashes remained 8 in both periods.

Weather

Clear18 (78.3%)
-10.0%prior 20
Clear/Clear2 (8.7%)
Cloudy1 (4.3%)
-80.0%prior 5
Rain1 (4.3%)
Rain/Rain1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (65.2%)
-28.6%prior 21
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (17.4%)
Dark - lighted roadway3 (13.0%)
Dusk1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry20 (90.9%)
-23.1%prior 26
Wet2 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (45 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (28.9%)
44.4%prior 9
2
FORD6 (13.3%)
-14.3%prior 7
3
CHEVROLET4 (8.9%)
4
LEXUS3 (6.7%)
5
SUBARU3 (6.7%)
-40.0%prior 5
6
DODGE2 (4.4%)
7
GMC2 (4.4%)
8
MITS1 (2.2%)
9
NISSAN1 (2.2%)
10
RAM1 (2.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Vehicle unit records

2 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (60 persons with recorded sex)

Male37 (61.7%)
23.3%prior 30
Female23 (38.3%)
-17.9%prior 28

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

There was a shift in the distribution of crashes across speed zones year-over-year. Crashes in zones with speed limits of 45 mph and 55 mph decreased from a combined 11 crashes in November 2023 to 4 crashes in November 2024. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph and 40 mph zones collectively increased from 9 to 15. All speed zones reported zero fatalities in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), accessed programmatically via the Arcgis_yearly 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: Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2024-11-01 through 2024-11-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-11-01 through 2024-11-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: ACTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 23
  • Total persons involved: 60
  • Total vehicles involved: 45

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). "ACTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: November 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-11-01 to 2024-11-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/acton/november-2024-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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Acton, MA Crash Report — November 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com