Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

72 CRASHES IN
BURLINGTON, MA
DECEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2023

In December 2024, Burlington experienced 72 total crashes, an increase from 60 crashes reported in December 2023. This represents a 20% rise in overall crash incidents year-over-year. A notable shift is the 200% increase in hit-and-run crashes, rising from 1 in the prior period to 3 in the current period.

72

20.0%was 60

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

22

4.8%was 21

Persons Injured

3

200.0%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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash incidents in Burlington are trending upwards year-over-year, with a 20% increase from 60 crashes in December 2023 to 72 crashes in December 2024. This indicates a significant rise in traffic incidents within the jurisdiction.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2024

200.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly year-over-year, rising from 1 incident in December 2023 to 3 incidents in December 2024. The hit-and-run rate also climbed from 1.7% to 4.2% of all crashes, indicating an upward trend in these types of incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

22

Motorists Injured

Prior: 214.8%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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 Friday (13 crashes) and Wednesday (13 crashes) in December 2023 to Sunday (14 crashes) and Tuesday (14 crashes) in December 2024. The peak hour for crashes remained consistent at 5 PM, with 7 crashes in the prior period and 8 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either December 2023 or December 2024. Total injuries saw a slight increase, from 21 in the prior period to 22 in the current period. The current period recorded 1 serious injury crash, compared to 0 in the prior period, while minor injury crashes decreased from 16 to 14.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.4%
Minor Injury14minor injury crashes19.4%
-12.5%prior 16
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes4.2%
50.0%prior 2
No Injury53no injury crashes73.6%
29.3%prior 41

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'Followed too closely' increased by 9 crashes (75%), rising from 12 in December 2023 to 21 in December 2024. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a 233% increase in count, from 3 to 10 crashes. Conversely, 'Inattention' decreased by 7 crashes (58.3%), dropping from 12 to 5 crashes year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely21 (29.2%)75.0%prior 12
Failed to yield right of way10 (13.9%)
No improper driving9 (12.5%)12.5%prior 8
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (9.7%)
Inattention5 (6.9%)-58.3%prior 12
Driving too fast for conditions4 (5.6%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit3 (4.2%)
Made an improper turn3 (4.2%)
Operating defective equipment1 (1.4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' or 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions slightly decreased from 49 incidents in December 2023 to 42 incidents in December 2024. Crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces significantly increased from 5 in the prior period to 17 in the current period. Incidents in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 16 to 23, while 'Daylight' crashes remained stable at 31 and 30 respectively.

Weather

Clear21 (30.4%)
-55.3%prior 47
Clear/Clear21 (30.4%)
Cloudy5 (7.2%)
Rain/Cloudy4 (5.8%)
Rain4 (5.8%)
Cloudy/Cloudy4 (5.8%)
Rain/Rain3 (4.3%)
Snow2 (2.9%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.4%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight30 (43.5%)
-3.2%prior 31
Dark - lighted roadway23 (33.3%)
43.8%prior 16
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (8.7%)
Dawn5 (7.2%)
Dusk4 (5.8%)
-33.3%prior 6
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry48 (69.6%)
-9.4%prior 53
Wet17 (24.6%)
240.0%prior 5
Snow3 (4.3%)
Ice1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 120 in December 2023 to 142 in December 2024. Toyota remained the top vehicle make involved in crashes, increasing from 21 to 34 incidents. The 16-20 age group saw a 100% increase in persons involved, from 8 to 16, while the 26-34 age group remained stable with 30 persons in the prior period and 32 in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (142 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA34 (23.9%)
61.9%prior 21
2
FORD14 (9.9%)
16.7%prior 12
3
HONDA12 (8.5%)
-40.0%prior 20
4
VOLKSWAGEN10 (7%)
100.0%prior 5
5
NISSAN8 (5.6%)
0.0%prior 8
6
CHEVROLET7 (4.9%)
-46.2%prior 13
7
MAZDA7 (4.9%)
8
HYUNDAI7 (4.9%)
9
SUBARU6 (4.2%)
10
CADI5 (3.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (142 persons with recorded sex)

Male81 (57.0%)
2.5%prior 79
Female61 (43.0%)
17.3%prior 52

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 55 mph speed zones increased from 20 in December 2023 to 25 in December 2024. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph speed zones decreased from 18 to 8. No fatalities were recorded in any speed zone for either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-12-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-12-01 through 2024-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BURLINGTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 72
  • Total persons involved: 161
  • Total vehicles involved: 142

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). "BURLINGTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/burlington/december-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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Burlington, MA Crash Report — December 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com