Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

304 CRASHES IN
AMESBURY, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In Amesbury, total traffic crashes increased by 7.0% from 284 incidents in 2023 to 304 in 2024. While total crashes rose, the most notable year-over-year shift was a significant 29.3% decrease in the number of people injured, which fell from 82 to 58. The number of fatalities remained unchanged at one person killed in each period.

304

7.0%was 284

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

58

-29.3%was 82

Persons Injured

30

66.7%was 18

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. 12 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend shows an increase in the frequency of crashes but a decrease in their average severity. Total collisions rose by 7.0% year-over-year, from 284 to 304. Despite this increase, the number of total injuries dropped by 29.3%, and the number of fatalities was stable at one.

30

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

66.7% vs prior (18)

Hit-and-run crashes saw a substantial increase both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of total crashes. The count of hit-and-run incidents rose by 66.7%, from 18 in 2023 to 30 in 2024. As a result, the hit-and-run rate increased from 6.3% of all crashes in the prior year to 9.9% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 30.0%

5

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 7-28.6%

50

Motorists Injured

Prior: 71-29.6%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal pattern of crashes showed some consistency and some shifts. Friday remained the peak day for crashes in both years, with the count on Fridays increasing from 49 to 57. However, the daily peak hour for crashes shifted an hour earlier, from 4 PM in 2023 (29 crashes) to 3 PM in 2024 (36 crashes).

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes decreased year-over-year. The fatal crash rate fell slightly from 0.35% to 0.33%, with one fatal crash in each period. The proportion of crashes involving any level of injury decreased from 21.5% to 15.1%, driven by a drop in both serious injury crashes (from 8 to 6) and minor injury crashes (from 39 to 26). Consequently, the share of non-injury crashes grew from 76.1% in 2023 to 80.9% in 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.3%
0.0%prior 1
Serious Injury6serious injury crashes2%
-25.0%prior 8
Minor Injury26minor injury crashes8.6%
-33.3%prior 39
Possible Injury13possible injury crashes4.3%
0.0%prior 13
No Injury246no injury crashes80.9%
13.9%prior 216

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors remained stable, with "Inattention" and "No improper driving" topping the list in both years. However, there were significant changes in other factors; crashes attributed to an "Operating vehicle in erratic... manner" decreased by 56.5% in count, from 23 to 10 incidents. Conversely, crashes due to "Followed too closely" increased by 140% in count, rising from 5 to 12.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving101 (33.2%)12.2%prior 90
Inattention53 (17.4%)8.2%prior 49
Failed to yield right of way22 (7.2%)-8.3%prior 24
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road15 (4.9%)15.4%prior 13
Followed too closely12 (3.9%)140.0%prior 5
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner10 (3.3%)-56.5%prior 23
Distracted10 (3.3%)25.0%prior 8
Other improper action7 (2.3%)-22.2%prior 9
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (1.6%)
Fatigued/asleep5 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Year-over-year, crashes shifted towards occurring in better road conditions. Crashes on dry roads increased from 216 to 262, while incidents on wet roads fell from 44 to 21. A similar trend was seen in lighting, as the proportion of crashes in daylight conditions decreased from 73.2% to 69.7%, while the share of crashes in darkness (lighted or unlighted) increased from 21.5% to 24.3%.

Weather

Clear229 (76.8%)
13.9%prior 201
Cloudy28 (9.4%)
12.0%prior 25
Snow9 (3.0%)
-18.2%prior 11
Rain7 (2.3%)
-46.2%prior 13
Clear/Unknown5 (1.7%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)4 (1.3%)
Clear/Clear4 (1.3%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (1.0%)
-57.1%prior 7
Snow/Blowing sand, snow2 (0.7%)
Clear/Other2 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight212 (70.4%)
1.9%prior 208
Dark - lighted roadway50 (16.6%)
2.0%prior 49
Dark - roadway not lighted20 (6.6%)
81.8%prior 11
Dusk9 (3.0%)
-30.8%prior 13
Dawn6 (2.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting4 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry262 (86.8%)
21.3%prior 216
Wet21 (7.0%)
-52.3%prior 44
Snow15 (5.0%)
-11.8%prior 17
Ice4 (1.3%)
-20.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes remained consistent, with Ford, Toyota, and Honda being the top three in both 2023 and 2024. Looking at the demographics of people involved, there was a notable increase in the 65+ age group, whose involvement rose from 78 persons in 2023 to 94 persons in 2024.

Top Vehicle Makes (533 vehicles)

1
FORD72 (13.5%)
20.0%prior 60
2
TOYOTA66 (12.4%)
8.2%prior 61
3
HONDA62 (11.6%)
6.9%prior 58
4
CHEVROLET40 (7.5%)
-14.9%prior 47
5
NISSAN31 (5.8%)
47.6%prior 21
6
JEEP28 (5.3%)
0.0%prior 28
7
SUBARU27 (5.1%)
35.0%prior 20
8
MAZDA13 (2.4%)
62.5%prior 8
9
GMC13 (2.4%)
-27.8%prior 18
10
HYUNDAI13 (2.4%)
-38.1%prior 21

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (620 persons with recorded sex)

Male328 (52.9%)
0.6%prior 326
Female292 (47.1%)
12.7%prior 259

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones remained largely unchanged, with 25 mph zones accounting for the highest number of incidents in both periods (131 in 2023 and 133 in 2024). While the number of fatal crashes was stable at one, the location shifted from a 25 mph zone in 2023 to a 65 mph zone in 2024.

Fatal crashes by zone: 65 mph: 1 of 46 (2.174%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: AMESBURY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 304
  • Total persons involved: 695
  • Total vehicles involved: 533

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). "AMESBURY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/amesbury/2024-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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Amesbury, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com