Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

20 CRASHES IN
ASHLAND, MA
APRIL 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2023

Total crashes in Ashland increased from 19 in April 2023 to 20 in April 2024, a 5.26% rise. Despite this slight increase in crash volume, total injuries decreased significantly from 7 to 2, representing a 71.4% reduction year-over-year. There were no fatal crashes reported in either period.

20

5.3%was 19

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

2

-71.4%was 7

Persons Injured

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Total crashes in Ashland increased slightly from 19 in April 2023 to 20 in April 2024, representing a 5.26% rise year-over-year. Despite this increase in total crashes, the number of total injuries significantly decreased by 71.4%, from 7 injuries in April 2023 to 2 injuries in April 2024. There were no crash fatalities reported in either period.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2024

5.0% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Motorists Injured

Prior: 7-71.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

In April 2024, the peak days for crashes were Thursday and Friday, both recording 5 crashes, while the peak hour was 9 PM with 2 crashes. In contrast, April 2023 saw its peak crash days on Monday and Wednesday, each with 4 crashes, and the peak hour was 7 PM with 3 crashes. This indicates a shift in the temporal distribution of crashes, with peak activity moving towards later in the week and later in the evening.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The total number of injuries in Ashland decreased substantially from 7 in April 2023 to 2 in April 2024. Minor injuries saw a decrease from 5 crashes (26.3% of crashes) in April 2023 to 1 crash (5% of crashes) in April 2024, while possible injuries remained at 1 crash in both periods. Consequently, crashes with no injuries increased their proportion from 68.4% in April 2023 to 85% in April 2024. No fatal crashes were recorded in either April 2023 or April 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury1minor injury crashes5%
-80.0%prior 5
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes5%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury17no injury crashes85%
30.8%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to "Inattention" increased from 2 in April 2023 to 5 in April 2024, a 150% rise, making it the most frequent contributing factor in the current period. Conversely, "Failed to yield right of way" crashes decreased by 75%, from 4 in April 2023 to 1 in April 2024. "No improper driving" remained constant with 3 crashes in both periods, while "Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road" decreased from 3 crashes to 2 crashes, a 33.3% reduction.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention5 (25%)
No improper driving3 (15%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (10%)
Followed too closely1 (5%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (5%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (5%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (5%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

For lighting conditions, crashes occurring during "Daylight" increased slightly from 12 in April 2023 to 13 in April 2024. Crashes in "Dark - lighted roadway" conditions decreased from 6 in April 2023 to 3 in April 2024, while those in "Dark - roadway not lighted" conditions increased from 0 to 3. The data for weather and road surface conditions in April 2023 is not available for comparison.

Weather

Clear16 (80.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (10.0%)
Rain/Unknown1 (5.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Snow1 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight13 (65.0%)
8.3%prior 12
Dark - lighted roadway3 (15.0%)
-50.0%prior 6
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (15.0%)
Dawn1 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry15 (75.0%)
Wet3 (15.0%)
Slush2 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (36 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA7 (19.4%)
40.0%prior 5
2
HONDA4 (11.1%)
3
SUBARU4 (11.1%)
4
NISSAN3 (8.3%)
5
FORD3 (8.3%)
-66.7%prior 9
6
FRHT2 (5.6%)
7
TESL2 (5.6%)
8
VOLVO2 (5.6%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN1 (2.8%)
10
MAZDA1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (42 persons with recorded sex)

Male23 (54.8%)
0.0%prior 23
Female19 (45.2%)
26.7%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 35 MPH speed limit zones increased from 9 in April 2023 to 11 in April 2024. There was also an increase in crashes in 65 MPH zones, rising from 1 in April 2023 to 3 in April 2024. Conversely, crashes in 25 MPH zones decreased from 6 in April 2023 to 2 in April 2024. No fatal crashes were reported across any speed limit zone in either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: ASHLAND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 20
  • Total persons involved: 43
  • Total vehicles involved: 36

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). "ASHLAND, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/ashland/april-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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Ashland, MA Crash Report — April 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com