Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

71 CRASHES IN
BRAINTREE, MA
AUGUST 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2023

Total crashes in Braintree, MA increased by 22.41% year-over-year, rising from 58 crashes in August 2023 to 71 crashes in August 2024. Despite this increase in total crashes, the number of total injuries decreased by 25%, from 28 to 21. The most notable shift was the significant increase in crashes occurring in the 55 mph speed limit zone, which nearly doubled.

71

22.4%was 58

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

21

-25.0%was 28

Persons Injured

4

-20.0%was 5

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

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 an increase in total crashes, rising from 58 in August 2023 to 71 in August 2024. This represents a 22.41% increase in crashes year-over-year. Conversely, total injuries decreased by 25% during the same period.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2024

-20.0% vs prior (5)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 5 in August 2023 to 4 in August 2024. This resulted in a reduction of the hit-and-run rate from 8.6% to 5.6% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

21

Motorists Injured

Prior: 27-22.2%

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 peak day for crashes shifted from Wednesday, with 15 crashes in August 2023, to Tuesday, with 18 crashes in August 2024. The peak hour also shifted from 5 PM, with 9 crashes in the prior period, to 4 PM, with 13 crashes in the current period. Crashes on Monday and Friday also saw increases, with Monday rising from 5 to 12 crashes and Friday from 14 to 12 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

Total injuries decreased by 25% year-over-year, from 28 in August 2023 to 21 in August 2024. Both periods recorded 0 fatalities and 2 serious injury crashes. Minor injury crashes saw a slight decrease from 9 to 8, while possible injury crashes decreased from 9 to 6.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.8%
0.0%prior 2
Minor Injury8minor injury crashes11.3%
-11.1%prior 9
Possible Injury6possible injury crashes8.5%
-33.3%prior 9
No Injury53no injury crashes74.6%
47.2%prior 36

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

Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased from 13 to 22, a 69.23% rise in count. 'Followed too closely' crashes also saw a substantial increase, from 8 to 15, an 87.5% rise in count. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased from 7 to 5, and 'Driving too fast for conditions' crashes decreased from 2 to 1. 'Fatigued/asleep' crashes, which were 0 in the prior period, increased to 2 in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving22 (31%)69.2%prior 13
Followed too closely15 (21.1%)87.5%prior 8
Inattention5 (7%)0.0%prior 5
Failed to yield right of way5 (7%)-28.6%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road4 (5.6%)-20.0%prior 5
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (2.8%)
Distracted2 (2.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.8%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (2.8%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (1.4%)

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 increased from 37 in August 2023 to 55 in August 2024. Crashes in daylight also increased from 45 to 56 year-over-year. While crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 44 to 59, those on wet surfaces decreased from 14 to 12.

Weather

Clear55 (77.5%)
48.6%prior 37
Rain7 (9.9%)
16.7%prior 6
Cloudy3 (4.2%)
-57.1%prior 7
Clear/Clear2 (2.8%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (2.8%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (2.8%)

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

Lighting

Daylight56 (78.9%)
24.4%prior 45
Dark - lighted roadway6 (8.5%)
0.0%prior 6
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (7.0%)
Dawn2 (2.8%)
Dusk2 (2.8%)

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

Road Surface

Dry59 (83.1%)
34.1%prior 44
Wet12 (16.9%)
-14.3%prior 14

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, with its count increasing from 25 to 32. Honda saw a significant increase in involvement, rising from 9 to 18 vehicles, while Nissan increased from 9 to 13. The 21-25 age group experienced a substantial increase in persons involved, from 10 to 23, and the 45-54 age group also rose from 18 to 29. Conversely, the 35-44 age group saw a decrease in persons involved, from 32 to 25.

Top Vehicle Makes (144 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA32 (22.2%)
28.0%prior 25
2
HONDA18 (12.5%)
100.0%prior 9
3
FORD17 (11.8%)
6.3%prior 16
4
NISSAN13 (9%)
44.4%prior 9
5
CHEVROLET7 (4.9%)
-12.5%prior 8
6
JEEP5 (3.5%)
-37.5%prior 8
7
GMC5 (3.5%)
0.0%prior 5
8
LEXUS4 (2.8%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN4 (2.8%)
10
SUBARU4 (2.8%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (164 persons with recorded sex)

Male113 (68.9%)
36.1%prior 83
Female51 (31.1%)
4.1%prior 49

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 55 mph speed limit zone nearly doubled, increasing from 13 in August 2023 to 24 in August 2024. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased from 23 to 18. 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: BRAINTREE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 71
  • Total persons involved: 177
  • Total vehicles involved: 144

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). "BRAINTREE, 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/braintree/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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Braintree, MA Crash Report — August 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com