Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

53 CRASHES IN
CANTON, MA
SEPTEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2024

Total crashes in Canton increased by 96.3% from 27 in September 2024 to 53 in September 2025. This period also saw an 84.6% increase in total injuries, rising from 13 to 24. A notable shift is the emergence of 3 DUI crashes in September 2025, compared to zero in the prior year.

53

96.3%was 27

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

24

84.6%was 13

Persons Injured

5

66.7%was 3

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 · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Canton showed a significant upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 96.3% from 27 to 53. Similarly, total injuries rose by 84.6%, from 13 to 24. Fatalities remained at zero for both periods.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2025

66.7% vs prior (3)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 3 in September 2024 to 5 in September 2025. Despite this increase in count, the hit-and-run crash rate decreased from 11.1% to 9.4% of total crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

23

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1376.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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 Sunday with 6 crashes in September 2024 to Monday with 12 crashes in September 2025. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4 p.m. with 4 crashes in the prior period to 3 p.m. with 6 crashes in the current period. Monday crashes notably increased from 4 to 12 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities or fatal crashes reported in either September 2024 or September 2025. Total injuries increased from 13 to 24 year-over-year. The proportion of minor injury crashes remained stable at 22.2% in the prior period and 22.6% in the current period, while possible injury crashes decreased from 7.4% to 5.7% of total crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury12minor injury crashes22.6%
100.0%prior 6
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes5.7%
50.0%prior 2
No Injury38no injury crashes71.7%
100.0%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor shifted from "Followed too closely" (9 crashes, 33.3% share) in September 2024 to "No improper driving" (18 crashes, 34% share) in September 2025. Crashes attributed to "No improper driving" increased by 10 crashes, from 8 to 18. "Followed too closely" crashes increased by 2, from 9 to 11, while "Failed to yield right of way" crashes decreased by 2, from 5 to 3.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving18 (34%)125.0%prior 8
Followed too closely11 (20.8%)22.2%prior 9
Inattention3 (5.7%)
Failed to yield right of way3 (5.7%)-40.0%prior 5
Distracted2 (3.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (3.8%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (3.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (3.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (3.8%)
Other improper action2 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear or mostly clear weather conditions increased from 21 in September 2024 to 40 in September 2025. Crashes during daylight hours increased from 20 to 39, and those on dry road surfaces increased from 25 to 45. The count of crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 2 to 8, representing a rise in their proportion from 7.4% to 15.1% of total crashes.

Weather

Clear31 (58.5%)
55.0%prior 20
Clear/Clear8 (15.1%)
Cloudy5 (9.4%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (5.7%)
Rain2 (3.8%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.9%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.9%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.9%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight39 (73.6%)
95.0%prior 20
Dark - lighted roadway10 (18.9%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (5.7%)
Dawn1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry45 (84.9%)
80.0%prior 25
Wet8 (15.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 57 in September 2024 to 108 in September 2025. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, with its count increasing from 11 to 16 vehicles. Hyundai saw a notable increase, rising from 1 vehicle in the prior period to 8 vehicles in the current period, entering the top-ranked makes.

Top Vehicle Makes (108 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA16 (14.8%)
45.5%prior 11
2
HONDA13 (12%)
85.7%prior 7
3
FORD10 (9.3%)
42.9%prior 7
4
CHEVROLET8 (7.4%)
14.3%prior 7
5
NISSAN8 (7.4%)
6
HYUNDAI8 (7.4%)
7
SUBARU4 (3.7%)
8
TESL4 (3.7%)
9
MAZDA3 (2.8%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (118 persons with recorded sex)

Male66 (55.9%)
61.0%prior 41
Female52 (44.1%)
100.0%prior 26

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were reported across any speed limit zone in either September 2024 or September 2025. Crashes in the 55 mph zone increased from 4 to 11, and in the 65 mph zone from 9 to 11. The highest number of crashes shifted from the 65 mph zone (9 crashes) in the prior period to both the 55 mph and 65 mph zones (11 crashes each) in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: CANTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 53
  • Total persons involved: 137
  • Total vehicles involved: 108

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). "CANTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/canton/september-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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Canton, MA Crash Report — September 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com