Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

18 CRASHES IN
BOLTON, MA
AUGUST 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2023

BOLTON experienced a notable decrease in total crashes in August 2024 compared to August 2023, with crashes falling from 28 to 18, a 35.71% reduction. This significant decline was accompanied by a 57.14% decrease in total injuries, from 7 to 3. The most notable shift was in the primary contributing factor, with 'Followed too closely' becoming the leading factor in August 2024, while 'Inattention' was the top factor in August 2023.

18

-35.7%was 28

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

-57.1%was 7

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in BOLTON showed a significant downward trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 10, from 28 in August 2023 to 18 in August 2024. This represents a 35.71% reduction in crash incidents during the selected month.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 7-57.1%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. In August 2024, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 5 incidents, and the peak hour was 8 AM with 4 incidents. This contrasts with August 2023, when Monday was the peak day with 7 crashes, and 7 PM was the peak hour, also with 4 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either August 2024 or August 2023. Total injuries decreased from 7 in August 2023 to 3 in August 2024, a 57.14% reduction. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries slightly increased from 14.3% in August 2023 to 16.7% in August 2024, while possible injuries, which accounted for 3.6% of crashes in the prior period, were absent in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes16.7%
-25.0%prior 4
No Injury15no injury crashes83.3%
-34.8%prior 23

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor in August 2024 was 'Followed too closely' with 7 crashes, an increase from 4 crashes in August 2023, representing a 75% rise in count. 'Inattention,' which was the top factor in August 2023 with 9 crashes, was not a primary contributing factor in August 2024. Factors like 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' also saw an increase, from 1 crash in August 2023 to 2 crashes in August 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely7 (38.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (11.1%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (11.1%)
No improper driving2 (11.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (11.1%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (5.6%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 15 in August 2023 to 13 in August 2024, while crashes in rainy conditions decreased from 4 to 0. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 22 to 17, and on wet road surfaces from 6 to 1. The proportion of crashes occurring during daylight hours remained dominant, with 17 in August 2024 compared to 20 in August 2023.

Weather

Clear13 (72.2%)
-13.3%prior 15
Cloudy2 (11.1%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (11.1%)
Clear/Other1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight17 (94.4%)
-15.0%prior 20
Dawn1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry17 (94.4%)
-22.7%prior 22
Wet1 (5.6%)
-83.3%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (30 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA7 (23.3%)
-22.2%prior 9
2
HONDA3 (10%)
3
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (10%)
4
FORD3 (10%)
-57.1%prior 7
5
NISSAN2 (6.7%)
6
MAZDA2 (6.7%)
7
JEEP2 (6.7%)
8
CADI1 (3.3%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN1 (3.3%)
10
CHEVROLET1 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (34 persons with recorded sex)

Male19 (55.9%)
-26.9%prior 26
Female15 (44.1%)
-51.6%prior 31

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 40 mph speed zones saw the largest decrease, falling from 9 in August 2023 to 4 in August 2024. Conversely, crashes in 45 mph speed zones increased from 5 to 7. Crashes in 65 mph speed zones also decreased, from 7 to 3. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · 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: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BOLTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 18
  • Total persons involved: 34
  • Total vehicles involved: 30

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: August 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/bolton/august-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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Bolton, MA Crash Report — August 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com