Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

86 CRASHES IN
CAMBRIDGE, MA
APRIL 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2023

In April 2024, CAMBRIDGE, MA recorded 86 total crashes, a notable decrease from the 133 crashes reported in April 2023, representing a 35.34% reduction year-over-year. A significant shift was the occurrence of 1 fatality in April 2024, compared to zero fatalities in the same month the previous year.

86

-35.3%was 133

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

20

-42.9%was 35

Persons Injured

27

-47.1%was 51

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant decrease in total crashes in April 2024 compared to April 2023. The number of crashes fell by 47, from 133 to 86, marking a 35.34% reduction year-over-year.

27

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2024

-47.1% vs prior (51)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 51 incidents in April 2023 to 27 incidents in April 2024. The hit-and-run crash rate also saw a reduction, moving from 38.3% in April 2023 to 31.4% in April 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 4-25.0%

5

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 9-44.4%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 20-45.0%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 2-50.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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 Thursday in April 2023, which had 32 crashes, to Monday in April 2024, with 21 crashes. The peak hour also changed, with April 2023 seeing 12 crashes at 5 PM, while April 2024 recorded its peak of 9 crashes at 3 PM.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity distribution saw a critical change with 1 fatal crash and 1 fatality recorded in April 2024, whereas April 2023 reported zero fatal crashes and zero fatalities. Total injuries decreased from 35 in April 2023 to 20 in April 2024. Serious injuries (code A) were reported in April 2024 with 2 incidents (2.3% of crashes), but were not present in the April 2023 data.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes1.2%
Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.3%
Minor Injury9minor injury crashes10.5%
-62.5%prior 24
Possible Injury8possible injury crashes9.3%
14.3%prior 7
No Injury49no injury crashes57%
-29.0%prior 69

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving', decreased in count from 23 in April 2023 to 19 in April 2024. 'Failed to yield right of way' incidents increased from 10 in April 2023 to 14 in April 2024, while 'Inattention' incidents decreased from 10 to 6 year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving19 (22.1%)-17.4%prior 23
Failed to yield right of way14 (16.3%)40.0%prior 10
Inattention6 (7%)-40.0%prior 10
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (4.7%)-20.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (3.5%)
Distracted3 (3.5%)
Other improper action2 (2.3%)-60.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (1.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.2%)-85.7%prior 7
Physical impairment1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Clear weather remained the most common condition for crashes, with 41 incidents in April 2024 compared to 68 in April 2023. Crashes occurring in Daylight conditions decreased from 85 in April 2023 to 61 in April 2024. Dry road surfaces were associated with 57 crashes in April 2024, down from 94 in April 2023.

Weather

Clear41 (51.2%)
-39.7%prior 68
Cloudy10 (12.5%)
0.0%prior 10
Rain8 (10.0%)
-27.3%prior 11
Unknown/Unknown5 (6.3%)
Clear/Clear5 (6.3%)
-64.3%prior 14
Cloudy/Rain4 (5.0%)
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (3.8%)
Clear/Unknown2 (2.5%)
Rain/Unknown1 (1.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Severe crosswinds1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight61 (76.3%)
-28.2%prior 85
Dark - lighted roadway13 (16.3%)
-53.6%prior 28
Dusk3 (3.8%)
Dawn1 (1.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry57 (79.2%)
-39.4%prior 94
Wet14 (19.4%)
-26.3%prior 19
Slush1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes decreased from 283 in April 2023 to 219 in April 2024. The 26-34 age group continued to have the highest involvement, with 40 persons in April 2024, down from 48. Toyota, the top vehicle make in April 2023 with 50 vehicles, became the second most involved make in April 2024 with 21 vehicles, while Honda became the top make with 27 vehicles.

Top Vehicle Makes (155 vehicles)

1
HONDA27 (17.4%)
-22.9%prior 35
2
TOYOTA21 (13.5%)
-58.0%prior 50
3
FORD19 (12.3%)
-5.0%prior 20
4
SUBARU11 (7.1%)
83.3%prior 6
5
BMW7 (4.5%)
-22.2%prior 9
6
VOLKSWAGEN6 (3.9%)
20.0%prior 5
7
MAZDA6 (3.9%)
8
NISSAN5 (3.2%)
-54.5%prior 11
9
AUDI5 (3.2%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ5 (3.2%)
-16.7%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (163 persons with recorded sex)

Male95 (58.3%)
-19.5%prior 118
Female68 (41.7%)
-1.4%prior 69

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed limit zone decreased from 85 in April 2023 to 57 in April 2024. A fatal crash occurred in the 30 mph zone in April 2024, which recorded 7 crashes, whereas no fatal crashes were reported across any speed zones in April 2023. Crashes in the 20 mph zone also significantly decreased from 29 to 9 year-over-year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 7 (14.286%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: CAMBRIDGE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 86
  • Total persons involved: 219
  • Total vehicles involved: 155

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: April 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/cambridge/april-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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Cambridge, MA Crash Report — April 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com