Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

37 CRASHES IN
BROOKLINE, MA
AUGUST 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2024

In August 2025, Brookline experienced 37 crashes, an increase of 37.0% compared to the 27 crashes recorded in August 2024. This period also saw a significant rise in total injuries, climbing from 9 in the prior year to 22 in the current year. This represents a 144.4% increase in injuries year-over-year, marking the most notable shift in crash outcomes.

37

37.0%was 27

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

22

144.4%was 9

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 · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for August 2025 indicates an upward trend in traffic incidents in Brookline compared to the same month in the prior year. Total crashes increased by 10, from 27 to 37, representing a 37.0% rise. Concurrently, total injuries saw a substantial increase of 13, from 9 to 22, marking a 144.4% year-over-year increase.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2025

2.7% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 20.0%

19

Motorists Injured

Prior: 7171.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Thursday (7 crashes) in August 2024 to Sunday (8 crashes) in August 2025. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes changed from 11 AM (5 crashes) in the prior period to 1 PM (7 crashes) in the current period. Notably, Sunday crashes increased from 1 to 8, and Friday crashes rose from 4 to 7.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

No fatalities were recorded in either August 2024 or August 2025. However, there was a notable increase in injury severities, with serious injuries (A) rising from 0 to 2, and minor injuries (B) increasing from 5 to 12. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury (O) decreased from 70.4% in the prior period to 48.6% in the current period, indicating a higher severity profile overall.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes5.4%
Minor Injury12minor injury crashes32.4%
140.0%prior 5
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes13.5%
66.7%prior 3
No Injury18no injury crashes48.6%
-5.3%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 11 in August 2024 to 9 in August 2025, an 18.2% reduction in count. Conversely, crashes where 'Followed too closely' was a factor increased by 66.7%, from 3 to 5 incidents year-over-year. 'Failed to yield right of way' remained constant at 4 crashes in both periods, while 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' emerged as a factor in 3 crashes during the current period, not being present in the prior.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (24.3%)-18.2%prior 11
Followed too closely5 (13.5%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (10.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (8.1%)
Inattention2 (5.4%)
Made an improper turn1 (2.7%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.7%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (2.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (2.7%)
Illness1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 17 in August 2024 to 33 in August 2025. Concurrently, crashes during rainy weather decreased from 3 to 1, and those on wet road surfaces also declined from 3 to 1. The majority of crashes in both periods occurred during daylight hours, increasing from 24 to 33 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear33 (89.2%)
94.1%prior 17
Clear/Clear2 (5.4%)
-60.0%prior 5
Cloudy1 (2.7%)
Rain1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight33 (89.2%)
37.5%prior 24
Dark - lighted roadway3 (8.1%)
Dawn1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry36 (97.3%)
50.0%prior 24
Wet1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes increased from 70 in August 2024 to 82 in August 2025. Specifically, the 26-34 age group saw an increase from 15 to 19 persons, and the 35-44 age group doubled from 5 to 10 persons. The representation of female persons involved also increased significantly from 22 to 34, while the number of male persons remained constant at 39. In terms of vehicle makes, Toyota's count decreased from 13 to 9, while Honda's count increased from 6 to 9, resulting in both makes having 9 vehicles involved in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (65 vehicles)

1
HONDA9 (13.8%)
50.0%prior 6
2
TOYOTA9 (13.8%)
-30.8%prior 13
3
FORD6 (9.2%)
4
CHEVROLET5 (7.7%)
0.0%prior 5
5
HYUNDAI5 (7.7%)
6
SUBARU5 (7.7%)
7
KIA4 (6.2%)
8
CHRYSLER2 (3.1%)
9
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (3.1%)
10
NISSAN1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (73 persons with recorded sex)

Male39 (53.4%)
0.0%prior 39
Female34 (46.6%)
54.5%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 20 in August 2024 to 27 in August 2025. There was also a notable increase in crashes occurring in 35 mph zones, rising from 1 to 4 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes in both 30 mph and 40 mph zones decreased by one incident each. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · 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: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BROOKLINE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 37
  • Total persons involved: 82
  • Total vehicles involved: 65

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). "BROOKLINE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/brookline/august-2025-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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Brookline, MA Crash Report — August 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com