ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · CAMBRIDGE, MA · 2024
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/cambridge/2024-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
1,577 CRASHES IN
CAMBRIDGE, MA
2024
In 2024, Cambridge recorded 1,577 total traffic crashes, a 6.4% decrease from the 1,684 crashes in 2023. While overall crashes declined, the number of fatalities increased significantly, rising from one person killed in 2023 to four in 2024.
1,577
▼ -6.4%was 1,684
Total Crash Events
4
▲ 300.0%was 1
Persons Killed
406
▼ -13.2%was 468
Persons Injured
485
▼ -13.5%was 561
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (4) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (4) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 329 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall crash trends in Cambridge show a downward trajectory, with total incidents falling by 6.4% from 1,684 in 2023 to 1,577 in 2024. The number of people injured also decreased by 13.2%, from 468 to 406. However, this trend was contrasted by a rise in crash severity, as total fatalities increased from one to four over the same period.
485
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024
▼ -13.5% vs prior (561)
Hit-and-run incidents decreased in both volume and rate compared to the previous year. The total number of hit-and-run crashes fell by 13.5%, from 561 in 2023 to 485 in 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of total crashes also trended down, dropping from 33.3% in 2023 to 30.8% in 2024.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
3
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
63
Pedestrians Injured
91
Cyclists Injured
224
Motorists Injured
28
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal patterns of crashes showed some consistency and some shifts year-over-year. Thursday remained the peak day for crashes in both 2023 (293 crashes) and 2024 (273 crashes). However, the peak hour for incidents shifted from 2 p.m. in 2023 (132 crashes) to the 5 p.m. commute hour in 2024 (121 crashes).
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
Crash severity worsened in 2024 compared to the prior year. The number of fatal crashes increased from one to four, and the fatal crash rate rose from 0.06% to 0.25% of all crashes. While crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased from a 16.9% share to a 14.6% share of all incidents, the proportion of crashes involving serious injuries saw a slight increase from 1.1% to 1.3%.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The leading contributing factors showed a shift in 2024. While 'No improper driving' remained the most cited factor in both years, its count decreased from 397 to 354. Crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' increased in count by 29.3%, from 123 in 2023 to 159 in 2024, making it the second-most common factor. Conversely, crashes involving 'Inattention' saw a 24.2% decrease in count, falling from 99 to 75.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crash conditions remained largely consistent between the two periods, with the majority of incidents occurring in ideal conditions. In 2024, 75.0% of crashes happened on dry roads and 66.8% in daylight, comparable to 72.4% and 66.4% respectively in 2023. There was no significant shift in the proportion of crashes occurring under adverse weather, lighting, or road surface conditions.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The makes of vehicles involved in crashes were consistent year-over-year, with Toyota and Honda remaining the top two most frequent makes in both 2023 and 2024. Regarding the age of persons involved, the 26-34 age group's representation increased slightly from 17.6% of all persons in 2023 to 19.0% in 2024. Meanwhile, the 35-44 age group's share decreased from 14.6% to 13.5%.
Top Vehicle Makes (2,773 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
847 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (2,538 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes remained concentrated in lower speed zones in both years, with the 25 MPH zone accounting for the largest number of incidents. In 2024, 1,085 crashes occurred in 25 MPH zones, down from 1,199 in 2023. Notably, while the single fatal crash in 2023 occurred in a 20 MPH zone, the four fatal crashes in 2024 were distributed across 20 MPH (1), 25 MPH (2), and 30 MPH (1) zones.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 274 (0.365%) · 25 mph: 2 of 1,085 (0.184%) · 30 mph: 1 of 46 (2.174%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
- Geographic scope: CAMBRIDGE, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 1,577
- Total persons involved: 3,429
- Total vehicles involved: 2,773
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). "CAMBRIDGE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/cambridge/2024-annual-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
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2024-01-01 – 2024-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved