Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

20 CRASHES IN
ASHLAND, MA
FEBRUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2024

In February 2025, Ashland experienced 20 crashes, a substantial increase compared to the 7 crashes reported in February 2024. This represents a 185.7% increase in total crashes year-over-year. The most notable shift is the significant rise in overall crash incidents, alongside an increase in total injuries from 0 to 4.

20

185.7%was 7

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

4

Persons Injured

1

-50.0%was 2

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 · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash incidents year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 7 in February 2024 to 20 in February 2025. This represents an increase of 13 crashes, or 185.7%, in the current period compared to the prior period.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2025

-50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 2 incidents in February 2024 to 1 incident in February 2025. Concurrently, the hit-and-run rate saw a notable decrease from 28.6% in the prior period to 5% in the current period, indicating a downward trend in this metric.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns show a shift in peak crash days and hours. The peak day for crashes shifted from Friday with 2 crashes in the prior period to Monday with 7 crashes in the current period. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4p with 3 crashes in the prior period to 10p with 2 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury4minor injury crashes20%
No Injury15no injury crashes75%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors saw significant changes year-over-year. 'No improper driving' increased from 1 crash in the prior period to 5 crashes in the current period, becoming the most frequent factor. 'Failed to yield right of way' also rose from 1 crash to 4 crashes, while 'Inattention' decreased from 3 crashes to 1 crash.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving5 (25%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (20%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (10%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5%)
Inattention1 (5%)
Followed too closely1 (5%)
Distracted1 (5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 5 in the prior period to 13 in the current period, and crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 1 to 7. Regarding road surface, 'Dry' conditions saw an increase from 6 crashes to 10 crashes, and 'Ice' conditions increased from 1 crash to 3 crashes. Data for 'weather' conditions in the prior period was not available for comparison.

Weather

Clear11 (55.0%)
Snow3 (15.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (5.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Snow1 (5.0%)
Rain1 (5.0%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow1 (5.0%)
Snow/Rain1 (5.0%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight13 (65.0%)
160.0%prior 5
Dark - lighted roadway7 (35.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry10 (50.0%)
66.7%prior 6
Snow4 (20.0%)
Ice3 (15.0%)
Wet3 (15.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (34 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA6 (17.6%)
20.0%prior 5
2
HONDA4 (11.8%)
3
CHEVROLET3 (8.8%)
4
FORD3 (8.8%)
5
RAM2 (5.9%)
6
HYUNDAI2 (5.9%)
7
VOLKSWAGEN2 (5.9%)
8
VOLVO2 (5.9%)
9
TESL1 (2.9%)
10
NISSAN1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (32 persons with recorded sex)

Male17 (53.1%)
88.9%prior 9
Female15 (46.9%)
275.0%prior 4

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 4 in the prior period to 7 in the current period, while those in the 35 mph zone increased from 2 to 9. The 15 mph zone saw a decrease from 1 crash to 0, and 4 crashes occurred in the 30 mph zone in the current period, which was not present in the prior period's data. Neither period reported any fatal crashes across any speed zones.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · 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: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: ASHLAND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 20
  • Total persons involved: 37
  • Total vehicles involved: 34

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: February 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/ashland/february-2025-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

Ashland, MA Crash Report — February 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com