Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

24 CRASHES IN
ATHOL, MA
AUGUST 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2024

Total crashes in August 2025 were 24, an increase of 14.3% compared to the 21 crashes recorded in August 2024. This period saw an increase in total injuries from 7 to 8. Notably, 'Rear-end' and 'Single vehicle crash' incidents each increased from 5 and 4 crashes respectively in the prior year to 8 crashes each in the current year.

24

14.3%was 21

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

8

14.3%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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in ATHOL, MA showed an increasing trend year-over-year. Total crashes rose from 21 in August 2024 to 24 in August 2025, representing a 14.3% increase. Similarly, total injuries also increased by 14.3%, from 7 to 8.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2025

4.2% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4100.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Thursday with 7 crashes in August 2024 to Saturday with 9 crashes in August 2025. The peak hour remained consistent at 4 crashes, shifting slightly from 4 p.m. in the prior period to 3 p.m. in the current period. Crashes on Saturdays significantly increased from 1 to 9, while Thursday crashes decreased from 7 to 1.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at 0 in both August 2024 and August 2025. The number of serious injury crashes remained constant at 1, while minor injury crashes increased from 2 to 5. The proportion of minor injury crashes increased from 9.5% of total crashes in the prior period to 20.8% in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4.2%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes20.8%
150.0%prior 2
No Injury16no injury crashes66.7%
0.0%prior 16

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'Inattention' decreased from 8 crashes in August 2024 to 7 crashes in August 2025. 'No improper driving' increased from 3 crashes to 5 crashes, while 'Followed too closely' emerged as a significant factor with 4 crashes in the current period, up from 0 in the prior period. Conversely, 'Distracted' was a factor in 2 crashes in the prior period but was not listed in the current period's contributing factors.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention7 (29.2%)-12.5%prior 8
No improper driving5 (20.8%)
Followed too closely4 (16.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (8.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.2%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.2%)
History heart/epilepsy/fainting1 (4.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Regarding weather conditions, crashes under 'Clear' conditions slightly decreased from 19 to 18. The current period reported 5 crashes under 'Clear/Other' and 1 under 'Clear/Clear', categories not explicitly present in the prior year's data, which had 1 crash each in 'Cloudy' and 'Rain'. For lighting, 'Daylight' crashes remained at 17, while crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' increased from 2 to 3, and 'Dark - roadway not lighted' increased from 1 to 3. The current period recorded 1 crash at 'Dawn', whereas the prior period recorded 1 crash at 'Dusk'.

Weather

Clear18 (75.0%)
-5.3%prior 19
Clear/Other5 (20.8%)
Clear/Clear1 (4.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight17 (70.8%)
0.0%prior 17
Dark - lighted roadway3 (12.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (12.5%)
Dawn1 (4.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (40 vehicles)

1
FORD6 (15%)
-14.3%prior 7
2
JEEP5 (12.5%)
3
CHEVROLET5 (12.5%)
-16.7%prior 6
4
HONDA4 (10%)
-33.3%prior 6
5
DODGE2 (5%)
6
SUBARU2 (5%)
7
BMW2 (5%)
8
OSHK1 (2.5%)
9
RAM1 (2.5%)
10
SUZI1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (43 persons with recorded sex)

Male23 (53.5%)
4.5%prior 22
Female20 (46.5%)
0.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 11 in August 2024 to 4 in August 2025. Conversely, crashes in the 25 mph zone increased from 6 to 7, and in the 40 mph zone from 1 to 4. Several new speed zones, such as 10 mph, 15 mph, 35 mph, 45 mph, 50 mph, and 55 mph, appeared in the current period with recorded crashes, while the 5 mph zone, present in the prior period, was not listed. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · 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: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: ATHOL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 24
  • Total persons involved: 48
  • Total vehicles involved: 40

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). "ATHOL, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/athol/august-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

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Athol, MA Crash Report — August 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com