Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

80 CRASHES IN
CHARLTON, MA
JANUARY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2023

In January 2024, Charlton experienced 80 crashes, a 100% increase compared to the 40 crashes recorded in January 2023. This notable rise in total incidents marks a significant year-over-year shift in the city's crash data.

80

100.0%was 40

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

-16.7%was 12

Persons Injured

7

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. 3 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 2024-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Charlton show a significant upward trend, increasing by 100% from 40 crashes in January 2023 to 80 crashes in January 2024. Despite this rise in total crashes, the number of injuries decreased by 16.7%, from 12 to 10, and no fatalities were reported in either period.

7

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2024

8.8% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 12-16.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Monday in January 2023, which saw 10 crashes, to Sunday in January 2024, with 19 crashes. Similarly, the peak hour for incidents changed from 1 PM, recording 7 crashes in the prior period, to 6 PM, with 8 crashes in the current period.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both January 2023 and January 2024. Total injuries decreased by 16.7%, from 12 persons injured in the prior period to 10 in the current period. The current period recorded 1 serious injury crash (1.3% of total crashes), while the prior period had no serious injury crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.3%
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes7.5%
0.0%prior 6
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes3.8%
200.0%prior 1
No Injury67no injury crashes83.8%
103.0%prior 33

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw notable increases in crash counts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' rose from 3 in January 2023 to 21 in January 2024, a 600% increase in count. 'No improper driving' also increased by 75% in count, from 12 to 21 crashes, while 'Inattention' related crashes increased by 350% in count, from 2 to 9.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving21 (26.3%)75.0%prior 12
Driving too fast for conditions21 (26.3%)
Inattention9 (11.3%)
Other improper action4 (5%)
Followed too closely3 (3.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.5%)
Visibility obstructed2 (2.5%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (2.5%)-60.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (1.3%)
Distracted1 (1.3%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Adverse weather and road conditions played a larger role in the current period's crashes. Crashes occurring during snowy weather conditions increased from 3 in January 2023 to 19 in January 2024. Correspondingly, incidents on snow-covered road surfaces rose significantly from 5 to 31, while crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 14 to 11.

Weather

Clear26 (33.8%)
85.7%prior 14
Snow19 (24.7%)
Cloudy8 (10.4%)
0.0%prior 8
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)6 (7.8%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow4 (5.2%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (3.9%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (2.6%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (2.6%)
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (2.6%)
Severe crosswinds1 (1.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight41 (51.2%)
70.8%prior 24
Dark - roadway not lighted20 (25.0%)
Dark - lighted roadway18 (22.5%)
38.5%prior 13
Dawn1 (1.3%)

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

Road Surface

Snow31 (38.8%)
520.0%prior 5
Dry28 (35.0%)
115.4%prior 13
Wet11 (13.8%)
-21.4%prior 14
Ice5 (6.3%)
-28.6%prior 7
Slush4 (5.0%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (1.3%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 62 in January 2023 to 126 in January 2024. The most frequently involved vehicle make shifted from Ford, with 10 vehicles in the prior period, to Toyota, with 21 vehicles in the current period. Additionally, the number of persons aged 26-34 involved in crashes rose substantially from 14 to 40 year-over-year.

Top Vehicle Makes (126 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA21 (16.7%)
250.0%prior 6
2
CHEVROLET10 (7.9%)
3
FORD10 (7.9%)
0.0%prior 10
4
HONDA7 (5.6%)
0.0%prior 7
5
DODGE6 (4.8%)
6
KIA6 (4.8%)
7
SUBARU6 (4.8%)
8
JEEP5 (4%)
9
GMC3 (2.4%)
10
MAZDA3 (2.4%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (129 persons with recorded sex)

Male80 (62.0%)
77.8%prior 45
Female49 (38.0%)
81.5%prior 27

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 65 mph speed zones increased from 7 in January 2023 to 19 in January 2024, indicating a shift towards higher speed limit incidents. Crashes in 30 mph zones also rose from 9 to 17, while 50 mph zones saw an increase from 10 to 12 crashes. Fatalities remained at zero across all speed zones in both periods.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHARLTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 80
  • Total persons involved: 144
  • Total vehicles involved: 126

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). "CHARLTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/charlton/january-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Charlton, MA Crash Report — January 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com