Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

224 CRASHES IN
BOLTON, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In Bolton, total traffic crashes decreased by 8.2%, from 244 in 2023 to 224 in 2024. While overall incidents and injuries declined, the most notable year-over-year shift was the occurrence of one fatal crash in 2024, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

224

-8.2%was 244

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

79

-3.7%was 82

Persons Injured

11

120.0%was 5

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in traffic incidents shows a year-over-year decline. Total crashes fell by 8.2% from 244 to 224, and the number of people injured decreased slightly from 82 to 79. However, this period also saw the city's first traffic fatality in the two-year span, moving from zero in 2023 to one in 2024.

11

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

120.0% vs prior (5)

Hit-and-run incidents increased substantially year-over-year. The number of hit-and-run crashes more than doubled, rising from 5 in 2023 to 11 in 2024, a 120% increase in count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all crashes also rose sharply, from 2.0% to 4.9%.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

77

Motorists Injured

Prior: 82-6.1%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year, with Tuesday being the peak day for incidents in both 2023 and 2024, each recording 43 crashes. A minor shift occurred in the peak hour of the day, moving an hour earlier from 3 PM in the prior year (24 crashes) to 2 PM in the current year (30 crashes).

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While the total number of crashes decreased, the severity profile changed with the introduction of a fatal crash in 2024, increasing the fatal crash rate from 0 to 0.45 per 100 crashes. The total number of injury-related crashes decreased from 61 to 56, but the proportion of crashes involving any injury remained stable at 25% across both periods. The count of serious injury crashes also declined from 6 to 4.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.4%
Serious Injury4serious injury crashes1.8%
-33.3%prior 6
Minor Injury40minor injury crashes17.9%
0.0%prior 40
Possible Injury12possible injury crashes5.4%
-20.0%prior 15
No Injury165no injury crashes73.7%
-9.8%prior 183

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors shifted between the two periods. Crashes attributed to "Inattention" saw a significant drop in count from 39 to 21, while incidents involving "Distracted" driving increased from 6 to 10. "Followed too closely" remained a consistent top factor, with 37 crashes recorded in both 2023 and 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving42 (18.8%)-30.0%prior 60
Followed too closely37 (16.5%)0.0%prior 37
Failed to yield right of way24 (10.7%)-17.2%prior 29
Inattention21 (9.4%)-46.2%prior 39
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road16 (7.1%)45.5%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions12 (5.4%)20.0%prior 10
Distracted10 (4.5%)66.7%prior 6
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway8 (3.6%)60.0%prior 5
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner8 (3.6%)-33.3%prior 12
Other improper action6 (2.7%)-25.0%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in the current year were more likely to occur in favorable conditions compared to the prior year. The proportion of incidents on dry roads increased from 73.4% to 79.9%, corresponding with a drop in crashes on wet roads from 48 to 27. Similarly, the share of crashes occurring in daylight rose from 68.9% in 2023 to 71.9% in 2024.

Weather

Clear153 (68.3%)
10.9%prior 138
Cloudy22 (9.8%)
-24.1%prior 29
Rain14 (6.3%)
-26.3%prior 19
Snow7 (3.1%)
-46.2%prior 13
Clear/Clear5 (2.2%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (1.3%)
Clear/Other3 (1.3%)
-83.3%prior 18
Cloudy/Rain3 (1.3%)
-57.1%prior 7
Rain/Cloudy3 (1.3%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight161 (72.5%)
-4.2%prior 168
Dark - roadway not lighted31 (14.0%)
-26.2%prior 42
Dark - lighted roadway14 (6.3%)
-22.2%prior 18
Dawn8 (3.6%)
33.3%prior 6
Dusk7 (3.2%)
-12.5%prior 8
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry179 (79.9%)
0.0%prior 179
Wet27 (12.1%)
-43.8%prior 48
Snow11 (4.9%)
-21.4%prior 14
Ice5 (2.2%)
Slush2 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The profile of vehicles and persons involved in crashes showed high consistency year-over-year. Toyota, Ford, and Honda were the top three most common vehicle makes in both periods, with their involvement counts decreasing slightly in 2024. The 26-34 age group was the most frequently represented demographic among individuals involved in crashes in both years, accounting for 94 people in 2023 and 88 in 2024.

Top Vehicle Makes (395 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA66 (16.7%)
-9.6%prior 73
2
FORD40 (10.1%)
-13.0%prior 46
3
HONDA35 (8.9%)
-2.8%prior 36
4
CHEVROLET28 (7.1%)
-12.5%prior 32
5
SUBARU21 (5.3%)
-16.0%prior 25
6
NISSAN14 (3.5%)
-54.8%prior 31
7
MERCEDES-BENZ14 (3.5%)
133.3%prior 6
8
JEEP13 (3.3%)
-27.8%prior 18
9
HYUNDAI13 (3.3%)
-18.8%prior 16
10
GMC11 (2.8%)
0.0%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (530 persons with recorded sex)

Male327 (61.7%)
12.4%prior 291
Female203 (38.3%)
-9.0%prior 223

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones saw a general reduction, particularly in higher-speed areas. Crashes in 65 mph zones decreased from 58 to 46, and incidents in 40 mph zones fell from 66 to 58. The single fatal crash recorded in 2024 occurred in a 65 mph zone, where no fatal crashes were recorded in the prior year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 65 mph: 1 of 46 (2.174%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: BOLTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 224
  • Total persons involved: 563
  • Total vehicles involved: 395

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). "BOLTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/bolton/2024-annual-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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Bolton, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com