Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

1,387 CRASHES IN
CAMBRIDGE, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In 2025, Cambridge recorded 1,387 total crashes, a 12.0% decrease from the 1,577 crashes documented in 2024. This year-over-year decline in total collisions was accompanied by a notable reduction in traffic fatalities, which dropped from 4 in the prior period to 1 in the current period.

1,387

-12.0%was 1,577

Total Crash Events

1

-75.0%was 4

Persons Killed

371

-8.6%was 406

Persons Injured

437

-9.9%was 485

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 282 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic crash trends in Cambridge show a decline year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 12.0%, from 1,577 in 2024 to 1,387 in 2025. Correspondingly, total reported injuries fell by 8.6% from 406 to 371, and the number of fatalities decreased from 4 to 1.

437

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

-9.9% vs prior (485)

The total number of hit-and-run incidents decreased by 9.9%, from 485 in 2024 to 437 in 2025. Despite this drop in the absolute count of such events, the hit-and-run rate as a proportion of all crashes increased slightly. In 2025, hit-and-runs accounted for 31.5% of all crashes, compared to 30.8% in the previous year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 3-100.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

62

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 63-1.6%

89

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 91-2.2%

197

Motorists Injured

Prior: 224-12.1%

23

Other Injured

Prior: 28-17.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for collisions moved from Thursday (273 crashes) in 2024 to Tuesday (263 crashes) in 2025. The single busiest hour also shifted earlier in the day, from 5 PM in the prior year (121 crashes) to 2 PM in the current year (112 crashes), though the afternoon hours remained the highest frequency period for crashes in both years.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes lessened, with the fatal crash rate decreasing from 0.25% in 2024 to 0.07% in 2025. While the count of fatal and serious injury crashes declined, the proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries increased from a 14.6% share to a 17.4% share of all crashes. Crashes resulting in no injury accounted for 55.9% of all incidents in 2025, down slightly from 57.3% in 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.1%
-75.0%prior 4
Serious Injury11serious injury crashes0.8%
-47.6%prior 21
Minor Injury241minor injury crashes17.4%
4.3%prior 231
Possible Injury76possible injury crashes5.5%
-13.6%prior 88
No Injury776no injury crashes55.9%
-14.2%prior 904

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top three contributing factors cited in crashes remained the same across both years: 'No improper driving,' 'Failed to yield right of way,' and 'Other improper action.' However, the count for several key factors decreased, with crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' dropping by 31.4% from 159 incidents in 2024 to 109 in 2025. Crashes involving 'Followed too closely' also decreased in count by 25.5% from 55 to 41. In contrast, the number of crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a slight increase from 75 to 77 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving315 (22.7%)-11.0%prior 354
Failed to yield right of way109 (7.9%)-31.4%prior 159
Other improper action84 (6.1%)-3.4%prior 87
Inattention77 (5.6%)2.7%prior 75
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road50 (3.6%)0.0%prior 50
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings47 (3.4%)0.0%prior 47
Followed too closely41 (3%)-25.5%prior 55
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner26 (1.9%)18.2%prior 22
Glare18 (1.3%)63.6%prior 11
Made an improper turn18 (1.3%)-37.9%prior 29

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The environmental conditions under which crashes occurred were largely stable year-over-year. The proportion of collisions happening in clear weather was 73.0% in 2025 and 70.5% in 2024. Crash proportions during daylight hours (66.1% vs 66.8%) and on dry road surfaces (75.6% vs 75.0%) were also consistent between the current and prior periods, indicating no significant shift in the role of adverse conditions.

Weather

Clear787 (60.4%)
-13.1%prior 906
Clear/Clear225 (17.3%)
9.2%prior 206
Cloudy82 (6.3%)
-30.5%prior 118
Rain78 (6.0%)
-12.4%prior 89
Unknown/Unknown26 (2.0%)
-13.3%prior 30
Cloudy/Cloudy18 (1.4%)
-5.3%prior 19
Rain/Rain16 (1.2%)
33.3%prior 12
Rain/Cloudy13 (1.0%)
-7.1%prior 14
Cloudy/Rain11 (0.8%)
-8.3%prior 12
Snow10 (0.8%)
-47.4%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight917 (71.5%)
-13.0%prior 1,054
Dark - lighted roadway277 (21.6%)
-11.2%prior 312
Dusk44 (3.4%)
2.3%prior 43
Dark - unknown roadway lighting20 (1.6%)
Dawn9 (0.7%)
-55.0%prior 20
Dark - roadway not lighted8 (0.6%)
-33.3%prior 12
Other8 (0.6%)
33.3%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry1,049 (83.7%)
-11.3%prior 1,183
Wet171 (13.6%)
-10.9%prior 192
Snow23 (1.8%)
-4.2%prior 24
Ice4 (0.3%)
-20.0%prior 5
Slush3 (0.2%)
-62.5%prior 8
Other3 (0.2%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes showed a consistent pattern, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford being the top three in both periods, although their total counts all decreased in 2025. The top four vehicle makes were identical year-over-year. An analysis of persons involved shows the 26-34 age group was the largest demographic in both years, but its share of the total decreased from 25.3% in 2024 to 24.2% in 2025. Conversely, the share of the 35-44 age group increased from 18.0% to 20.4%.

Top Vehicle Makes (2,425 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA466 (19.2%)
-9.3%prior 514
2
HONDA334 (13.8%)
-5.9%prior 355
3
FORD231 (9.5%)
-2.9%prior 238
4
SUBARU129 (5.3%)
-7.9%prior 140
5
NISSAN100 (4.1%)
-2.0%prior 102
6
CHEVROLET98 (4%)
-22.2%prior 126
7
HYUNDAI74 (3.1%)
-8.6%prior 81
8
KIA60 (2.5%)
17.6%prior 51
9
JEEP59 (2.4%)
5.4%prior 56
10
MAZDA54 (2.2%)
-27.0%prior 74

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (2,259 persons with recorded sex)

Male1,401 (62.0%)
-10.5%prior 1,566
Female858 (38.0%)
-11.7%prior 972

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the most common 25 MPH speed zones decreased from 1,085 in 2024 to 1,008 in 2025. Significant count reductions were also seen in other zones, with crashes in 20 MPH zones falling by 21.2% and in 35 MPH zones by 38.6%. The single fatal crash in 2025 occurred in a 25 MPH zone, whereas 2024's four fatalities were recorded in 20 MPH, 25 MPH, and 30 MPH zones.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 1,008 (0.099%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: CAMBRIDGE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 1,387
  • Total persons involved: 3,029
  • Total vehicles involved: 2,425

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: 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/cambridge/2025-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

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Cambridge, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com