Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

375 CRASHES IN
BOSTON, MA
FEBRUARY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2023

February 2024 saw a total of 375 crashes, a decrease of 22.19% from the 482 crashes recorded in February 2023. The most significant year-over-year shift was the increase in total fatalities from 0 in February 2023 to 2 in February 2024.

375

▼ -22.2%was 482

Total Crash Events

2

Persons Killed

140

▼ -22.2%was 180

Persons Injured

57

▼ -10.9%was 64

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 13 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends for February indicate a decrease in total crashes and total injuries compared to the prior year. Total crashes decreased by 22.19% from 482 to 375, and total injuries decreased by 22.22% from 180 to 140. However, total fatalities increased from 0 in February 2023 to 2 in February 2024.

57

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2024

▼ -10.9% vs prior (64)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 64 in February 2023 to 57 in February 2024. Despite this reduction in count, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of total crashes increased from 13.3% to 15.2% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→%

11

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 12↓-8.3%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 4↓-25.0%

126

Motorists Injured

Prior: 163↓-22.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The distribution of crashes by day of week shifted, with the peak day moving from Sunday (85 crashes) in February 2023 to Friday (58 crashes) in February 2024. The peak crash hour remained consistent at 6 PM, with 31 crashes in February 2024 compared to 30 crashes in February 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Total fatalities increased from 0 in February 2023 to 2 in February 2024, resulting in a fatal crash rate of 0.53% in the current period. Total injuries decreased from 180 to 140 year-over-year. Serious injuries (code A) increased from 5 crashes (1% share) to 7 crashes (1.9% share), while minor injuries (code B) decreased from 84 crashes (17.4% share) to 56 crashes (14.9% share).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes0.5%
Serious Injury7serious injury crashes1.9%
↑40.0%prior 5
Minor Injury56minor injury crashes14.9%
↓-33.3%prior 84
Possible Injury41possible injury crashes10.9%
↓-10.9%prior 46
No Injury256no injury crashes68.3%
↓-20.2%prior 321

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, "No improper driving" decreased by 21 counts, from 93 to 72, and "Followed too closely" decreased by 1 count from 66 to 65. Notable decreases were observed in "Driving too fast for conditions," which dropped by 19 counts from 25 to 6, and "Exceeded authorized speed limit," decreasing by 11 counts from 21 to 10. Conversely, "Inattention" increased by 2 counts, from 13 to 15.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving72 (19.2%)↓-22.6%prior 93
Followed too closely65 (17.3%)↓-1.5%prior 66
Failed to yield right of way28 (7.5%)↓-26.3%prior 38
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings24 (6.4%)↓-11.1%prior 27
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road17 (4.5%)↓-5.6%prior 18
Other improper action15 (4%)→0.0%prior 15
Inattention15 (4%)↑15.4%prior 13
Exceeded authorized speed limit10 (2.7%)↓-52.4%prior 21
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner9 (2.4%)↓-25.0%prior 12
Made an improper turn8 (2.1%)↓-33.3%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in "Clear" weather decreased from 312 in February 2023 to 283 in February 2024. There was a significant decrease in crashes during "Snow" conditions, dropping from 23 to 2. Crashes on "Dry" road surfaces decreased from 325 to 302, and crashes on "Wet" surfaces decreased from 64 to 28, while crashes on "Ice" surfaces decreased from 25 to 2.

Weather

Clear283 (81.8%)
↓-9.3%prior 312
Cloudy38 (11.0%)
↓-7.3%prior 41
Rain13 (3.8%)
↓-23.5%prior 17
Clear/Cloudy3 (0.9%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (0.9%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
Snow2 (0.6%)
↓-91.3%prior 23
Rain/Snow1 (0.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.3%)
↓-94.4%prior 18
Other1 (0.3%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (0.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight173 (48.3%)
↓-24.5%prior 229
Dark - lighted roadway165 (46.1%)
↓-17.5%prior 200
Dusk8 (2.2%)
→0.0%prior 8
Dawn7 (2.0%)
↓-22.2%prior 9
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (0.8%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.6%)
↓-66.7%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry302 (90.4%)
↓-7.1%prior 325
Wet28 (8.4%)
↓-56.3%prior 64
Ice2 (0.6%)
↓-92.0%prior 25
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel2 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 947 to 764 year-over-year. Toyota remained the top make, though its involvement decreased from 169 to 163 vehicles, while Honda involvement decreased from 153 to 125. The age group 26-34 saw the largest decrease in persons involved, dropping by 72 from 284 to 212, and the 21-25 age group decreased by 46 persons from 141 to 95.

Top Vehicle Makes (764 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA163 (21.3%)
↓-3.6%prior 169
2
HONDA125 (16.4%)
↓-18.3%prior 153
3
FORD64 (8.4%)
↓-40.2%prior 107
4
NISSAN43 (5.6%)
↓-27.1%prior 59
5
CHEVROLET40 (5.2%)
↑5.3%prior 38
6
JEEP34 (4.5%)
↓-26.1%prior 46
7
HYUNDAI29 (3.8%)
→0.0%prior 29
8
SUBARU28 (3.7%)
↑75.0%prior 16
9
KIA23 (3%)
↓-8.0%prior 25
10
ACURA20 (2.6%)
↓-25.9%prior 27

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (795 persons with recorded sex)

Male480 (60.4%)
↓-19.2%prior 594
Female315 (39.6%)
↓-17.5%prior 382

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased from 164 to 117, but this zone recorded 2 fatal crashes in February 2024 compared to 0 in February 2023. Crashes in 45 mph zones decreased from 71 to 42, and in 55 mph zones from 69 to 54, with no fatal crashes reported in these zones for either period.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 2 of 117 (1.709%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · 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: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29 (29 days)
  • Geographic scope: BOSTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 375
  • Total persons involved: 949
  • Total vehicles involved: 764

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). "BOSTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/boston/february-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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Boston, MA Crash Report — February 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com