Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

32 CRASHES IN
CHARLTON, MA
MARCH 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2024

In March 2025, Charlton experienced 32 crashes, a slight decrease from the 33 crashes recorded in March 2024, representing a 3.03% reduction. A notable shift in crash characteristics is the emergence of 3 hit-and-run crashes in March 2025, compared to zero in the prior year.

32

-3.0%was 33

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

11

37.5%was 8

Persons Injured

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash frequency in Charlton remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a minor decrease of 3.03% from 33 crashes in March 2024 to 32 crashes in March 2025. However, total injuries increased by 37.5%, rising from 8 injuries in March 2024 to 11 injuries in March 2025.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2025

9.4% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 837.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · 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 March 2024 (9 crashes) to Monday in March 2025 (10 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 4 p.m. in March 2024 (5 crashes) to 5 p.m. in March 2025 (5 crashes). Notably, crashes on Monday doubled from 5 in March 2024 to 10 in March 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both March 2024 and March 2025. The number of crashes resulting in serious injury remained stable at 1 in both periods. Minor injury crashes decreased from 6 (18.2% of total crashes) in March 2024 to 2 (6.3% of total crashes) in March 2025, while crashes with possible injuries increased from 0 to 3 (9.4% of total crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes3.1%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes6.3%
-66.7%prior 6
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes9.4%
No Injury25no injury crashes78.1%
-3.8%prior 26

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' increased its count from 4 crashes in March 2024 to 9 crashes in March 2025, becoming the most frequent factor. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' decreased from 8 crashes to 4 crashes, shifting its ranking. Crashes attributed to 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' also rose significantly from 1 to 5 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (28.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (15.6%)
Followed too closely4 (12.5%)-50.0%prior 8
Inattention2 (6.3%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (6.3%)
Other improper action2 (6.3%)
Visibility obstructed1 (3.1%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (3.1%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (3.1%)
History heart/epilepsy/fainting1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased slightly from 23 in March 2024 to 22 in March 2025. The number of crashes during rainy conditions remained stable at 5 in both periods. Daylight crashes decreased from 26 in March 2024 to 18 in March 2025, whereas crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 2 to 6.

Weather

Clear16 (50.0%)
-27.3%prior 22
Clear/Clear6 (18.8%)
Cloudy5 (15.6%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (9.4%)
Rain1 (3.1%)
Rain/Other1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight18 (56.3%)
-30.8%prior 26
Dark - lighted roadway6 (18.8%)
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (15.6%)
0.0%prior 5
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (6.3%)
Dawn1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry24 (75.0%)
-4.0%prior 25
Wet7 (21.9%)
0.0%prior 7
Ice1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 66 in March 2024 to 60 in March 2025. Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, though its count decreased from 18 to 10. Regarding persons involved, the 26-34 age group saw an increase from 14 to 18 persons, and the 45-54 age group decreased from 12 to 4 persons.

Top Vehicle Makes (60 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA10 (16.7%)
-44.4%prior 18
2
FORD7 (11.7%)
40.0%prior 5
3
CHEVROLET6 (10%)
20.0%prior 5
4
NISSAN5 (8.3%)
-16.7%prior 6
5
KIA3 (5%)
6
HYUNDAI2 (3.3%)
7
JEEP2 (3.3%)
-60.0%prior 5
8
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.3%)
9
FREIGHTLINER2 (3.3%)
10
SUBARU2 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (68 persons with recorded sex)

Male39 (57.4%)
-17.0%prior 47
Female29 (42.6%)
7.4%prior 27

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 25 mph zones decreased from 5 in March 2024 to 3 in March 2025. There was an increase in crashes in 30 mph zones, from 5 to 6, and in 40 mph zones, from 3 to 5. Crashes in 50 mph zones saw a reduction from 8 to 4, while crashes in 65 mph zones slightly increased from 9 to 10.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · 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: 2025-03-01 through 2025-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-03-01 through 2025-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHARLTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 32
  • Total persons involved: 74
  • Total vehicles involved: 60

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: March 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/charlton/march-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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Charlton, MA Crash Report — March 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com