Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

7 CRASHES IN
BOYLSTON, MA
AUGUST 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2023

Total crashes in Boylston increased by 40% year-over-year, rising from 5 crashes in August 2023 to 7 crashes in August 2024. This increase was accompanied by a 100% rise in total injuries, from 1 to 2. The most notable shift was the emergence of 'Failed to yield right of way' as the top contributing factor in the current period, accounting for 2 crashes.

7

40.0%was 5

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

2

100.0%was 1

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.

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

The overall trend indicates a rise in crash incidents year-over-year, with total crashes increasing from 5 to 7, representing a 40% increase. Concurrently, total injuries doubled from 1 in the prior period to 2 in the current period, while fatalities remained at 0 in both August periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2024

14.3% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

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 for crashes shifted year-over-year. In August 2023, the peak day for crashes was Tuesday with 2 incidents, and the peak hour was 3p with 2 incidents. In contrast, August 2024 saw Thursday as the peak day with 3 crashes, and the peak hour listed was 10p with 1 crash.

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

Fatalities remained at 0 in both August 2023 and August 2024. The proportion of crashes involving injuries increased, with 28.6% of crashes (2 out of 7) resulting in possible injuries in August 2024, compared to 20% of crashes (1 out of 5) resulting in minor injuries in August 2023. Total injuries increased from 1 to 2 year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Possible Injury2possible injury crashes28.6%
No Injury5no injury crashes71.4%
25.0%prior 4

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 most frequently cited contributing factors shifted significantly year-over-year. In August 2024, 'Failed to yield right of way' was the top factor, associated with 2 crashes, a factor not listed among the top three in August 2023. Factors such as 'Distracted,' 'Followed too closely,' and 'Physical impairment,' each associated with 1 crash in August 2023, were not among the top contributing factors in August 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way2 (28.6%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (14.3%)
No improper driving1 (14.3%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (14.3%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (14.3%)

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

Weather conditions for crashes in August 2024 were exclusively clear for all 7 incidents, compared to August 2023 where 1 out of 5 crashes occurred during rain. Road surface data was unavailable for August 2024, preventing a comparison with August 2023 where 1 crash occurred on a wet surface. Lighting conditions remained similar, with most crashes occurring in daylight and one crash in dark conditions for both periods.

Weather

Clear6 (85.7%)
Clear/Clear1 (14.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight6 (85.7%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (14.3%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (11 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA4 (36.4%)
2
NISSAN3 (27.3%)
3
BIGT1 (9.1%)
4
CHEVROLET1 (9.1%)
5
FORD1 (9.1%)
6
KIA1 (9.1%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (11 persons with recorded sex)

Female6 (54.5%)
20.0%prior 5
Male5 (45.5%)
0.0%prior 5

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 the 35 mph speed zone increased from 1 in August 2023 to 2 in August 2024, while crashes in the 40 mph zone decreased from 3 to 1. New crash incidents were observed in the 25 mph and 65 mph zones in August 2024, with 1 crash in each, whereas no crashes were reported in these zones in August 2023. No fatalities were recorded in any speed zone for 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: BOYLSTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 7
  • Total persons involved: 12
  • Total vehicles involved: 11

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). "BOYLSTON, 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/boylston/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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Boylston, MA Crash Report — August 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com