Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

32 CRASHES IN
ARLINGTON, MA
SEPTEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2023

In September 2024, Arlington experienced 32 total crashes, a 39.13% increase from the 23 crashes reported in September 2023. The most notable year-over-year shift was the increase in fatal crashes and fatalities, which rose from 0 in September 2023 to 1 fatal crash and 1 fatality in September 2024.

32

39.1%was 23

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

4

-33.3%was 6

Persons Injured

2

100.0%was 1

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: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Arlington increased year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 23 in September 2023 to 32 in September 2024. This represents a 39.13% increase in crash volume. Fatalities also increased from 0 to 1 during this period, while total injuries decreased from 6 to 4.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2024

100.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 1 in September 2023 to 2 in September 2024. The hit-and-run rate also rose from 4.3% in the prior period to 6.3% in the current period, indicating an upward trend in such incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5-20.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Monday in both periods, increasing from 6 crashes in September 2023 to 10 crashes in September 2024. The peak crash hour shifted from 4 p.m. with 5 crashes in September 2023 to 9 a.m. with 4 crashes in September 2024, indicating a change in the most frequent crash time.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in September 2023 to 1 in September 2024, representing 3.1% of all crashes in the current period. Minor injury crashes decreased from 4 (17.4% of total) to 2 (6.3% of total), while possible injury crashes remained at 1 in both periods. Crashes resulting in no injury increased from 17 to 27 year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes3.1%
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes6.3%
-50.0%prior 4
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes3.1%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury27no injury crashes84.4%
58.8%prior 17

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes where 'No improper driving' was cited increased from 7 to 8, while 'Inattention' as a factor doubled from 2 crashes to 4 crashes. 'Failed to yield right of way' also increased from 2 to 4 crashes year-over-year. Factors such as 'Followed too closely' (3 crashes), 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' (3 crashes), and 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' (3 crashes) appeared as significant contributors in September 2024, not being prominent in the prior period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving8 (25%)14.3%prior 7
Failed to yield right of way4 (12.5%)
Inattention4 (12.5%)
Followed too closely3 (9.4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (9.4%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (9.4%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (6.3%)
Other improper action1 (3.1%)
Visibility obstructed1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions significantly increased from 11 in September 2023 to 26 in September 2024. Conversely, crashes in 'Rain' conditions decreased from 8 to 2 year-over-year. Similarly, crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 14 to 30, while those on 'Wet' surfaces decreased from 8 to 2.

Weather

Clear18 (56.3%)
157.1%prior 7
Clear/Clear8 (25.0%)
Cloudy3 (9.4%)
Rain2 (6.3%)
-66.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight25 (78.1%)
38.9%prior 18
Dark - lighted roadway4 (12.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (6.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry30 (93.8%)
114.3%prior 14
Wet2 (6.3%)
-75.0%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (66 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (19.7%)
44.4%prior 9
2
HONDA8 (12.1%)
3
CHEVROLET6 (9.1%)
4
FORD4 (6.1%)
5
JEEP4 (6.1%)
6
MAZDA3 (4.5%)
7
SUBARU3 (4.5%)
8
NISSAN3 (4.5%)
9
HYUNDAI3 (4.5%)
10
VOLVO2 (3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (70 persons with recorded sex)

Male37 (52.9%)
48.0%prior 25
Female33 (47.1%)
120.0%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph zones increased significantly from 11 in September 2023 to 25 in September 2024. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 9 to 3, while 15 mph zones maintained 1 crash in both periods. A fatal crash occurred in a 35 mph zone in September 2024, a zone not associated with crashes in the prior period, which had no fatalities.

Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 3 (33.333%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: ARLINGTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 32
  • Total persons involved: 78
  • Total vehicles involved: 66

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). "ARLINGTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/arlington/september-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Arlington, MA Crash Report — September 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com