Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

40 CRASHES IN
BELLINGHAM, MA
MARCH 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2025

In March 2026, Bellingham recorded 40 total crashes, a slight increase from the 38 crashes reported in March 2025. The most notable year-over-year shift was a substantial increase in total injuries, which rose by 114.28% from 7 in the prior period to 15 in the current period.

40

5.3%was 38

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

15

114.3%was 7

Persons Injured

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 · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Bellingham saw a slight increase year-over-year, rising by 2 crashes, or 5.26%, from 38 in March 2025 to 40 in March 2026. This indicates a relatively stable but slightly upward trend in overall crash incidents.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2026

0.0% vs prior (2)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained stable at 2 for both March 2025 and March 2026. However, the hit-and-run rate slightly decreased from 5.3% in March 2025 to 5% in March 2026, due to a small increase in the total number of crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

15

Motorists Injured

Prior: 6150.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · 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 Wednesday with 7 crashes in March 2025 to Friday with 9 crashes in March 2026. However, the peak hour remained consistent at 5 PM for both periods, with 5 crashes recorded at that hour in both March 2025 and March 2026.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Total injuries increased significantly from 7 in March 2025 to 15 in March 2026, marking a 114.28% rise. While both periods reported zero fatalities, the number of injury-involved crashes rose from 4 (10.5% of total crashes) in the prior period to 9 (22.5% of total crashes) in the current period, including one serious injury crash in March 2026 where none were reported previously.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.5%
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes15%
200.0%prior 2
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes5%
0.0%prior 2
No Injury30no injury crashes75%
-11.8%prior 34

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 16 in March 2025 to 9 in March 2026. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes increased from 2 to 6, and 'Inattention' crashes rose from 2 to 4 year-over-year. 'Driving too fast for conditions' appeared as a factor in 3 crashes in March 2026, where it was not a listed factor in March 2025.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (22.5%)-43.8%prior 16
Failed to yield right of way6 (15%)
Inattention4 (10%)
Followed too closely3 (7.5%)
Distracted3 (7.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions3 (7.5%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (7.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (5%)
Other improper action1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather decreased from 30 in March 2025 to 24 in March 2026, while those in rainy conditions increased from 1 to 4. There was a notable shift in road surface conditions, with dry road crashes decreasing from 35 to 23, and wet road crashes increasing from 3 to 11. Additionally, crashes on icy and snowy roads appeared in March 2026 with 3 incidents each, where none were reported in March 2025.

Weather

Clear24 (60.0%)
-20.0%prior 30
Cloudy5 (12.5%)
0.0%prior 5
Rain4 (10.0%)
Snow2 (5.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (5.0%)
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke1 (2.5%)
Clear/Clear1 (2.5%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight29 (72.5%)
3.6%prior 28
Dark - lighted roadway7 (17.5%)
0.0%prior 7
Dawn3 (7.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry23 (57.5%)
-34.3%prior 35
Wet11 (27.5%)
Ice3 (7.5%)
Snow3 (7.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes increased from 87 in March 2025 to 93 in March 2026, and total vehicles increased from 73 to 77. A significant shift in age distribution was observed in the 65+ age group, which saw an increase from 2 persons involved in March 2025 to 12 in March 2026. The number of males involved increased from 47 to 57, while females decreased from 37 to 30.

Top Vehicle Makes (77 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA11 (14.3%)
-15.4%prior 13
2
JEEP8 (10.4%)
33.3%prior 6
3
HONDA8 (10.4%)
14.3%prior 7
4
FORD8 (10.4%)
14.3%prior 7
5
NISSAN7 (9.1%)
6
CHEVROLET4 (5.2%)
-20.0%prior 5
7
DODGE4 (5.2%)
8
MAZDA3 (3.9%)
9
GMC3 (3.9%)
10
VOLVO3 (3.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (87 persons with recorded sex)

Male57 (65.5%)
21.3%prior 47
Female30 (34.5%)
-18.9%prior 37

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 40 mph speed zones saw an increase from 1 in March 2025 to 4 in March 2026. Crashes in 25 mph zones slightly decreased from 18 to 17, while those in 35 mph zones increased from 9 to 10. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed limit zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · 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: 2026-03-01 through 2026-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-03-01 through 2026-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BELLINGHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 40
  • Total persons involved: 93
  • Total vehicles involved: 77

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). "BELLINGHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/bellingham/march-2026-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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Bellingham, MA Crash Report — March 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com