Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

57 CRASHES IN
CHARLTON, MA
OCTOBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2024

In October 2025, Charlton experienced 57 total crashes, an increase from 51 crashes in October 2024. This represents an 11.8% year-over-year rise in total crash incidents. A notable shift was the 120% increase in crashes attributed to "Followed too closely," rising from 5 incidents to 11.

57

11.8%was 51

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

19

-29.6%was 27

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for crashes in Charlton shows an increase year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 11.8%, from 51 in October 2024 to 57 in October 2025. This indicates a measurable upward trend in crash incidents for the month.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2025

66.7% vs prior (3)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 3 in October 2024 to 5 in October 2025. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate rose from 5.9% to 8.8% year-over-year, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

18

Motorists Injured

Prior: 27-33.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · 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 Wednesday (10 crashes) in October 2024 to Thursday (14 crashes) in October 2025. While 3 PM remained the peak hour for both periods, the number of crashes at this hour decreased from 9 in October 2024 to 7 in October 2025. Additionally, Friday saw a significant increase in crashes, rising from 7 to 13 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero for both October 2024 and October 2025. Total injuries decreased from 27 in October 2024 to 19 in October 2025, a reduction of 8 injuries. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries (severity B) decreased from 23.5% (12 crashes) in the prior period to 12.3% (7 crashes) in the current period, while serious injuries (severity A) increased from 1 crash (2%) to 2 crashes (3.5%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes3.5%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes12.3%
-41.7%prior 12
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes7%
0.0%prior 4
No Injury42no injury crashes73.7%
23.5%prior 34

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" increased significantly by 6 incidents, rising from 5 in October 2024 to 11 in October 2025. "Inattention" also saw a substantial increase, growing by 5 incidents from 5 to 10 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes where "No improper driving" was a factor decreased by 2 incidents, from 8 to 6.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely11 (19.3%)120.0%prior 5
Inattention10 (17.5%)100.0%prior 5
No improper driving6 (10.5%)-25.0%prior 8
Failed to yield right of way6 (10.5%)0.0%prior 6
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (3.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (3.5%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (3.5%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (3.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (3.5%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring on wet road surfaces increased by 8 incidents, rising from 5 in October 2024 to 13 in October 2025. Similarly, crashes during rainy weather conditions increased by 3 incidents, from 2 to 5. Crashes occurring in "Dark - roadway not lighted" conditions also rose by 6 incidents, from 8 to 14.

Weather

Clear26 (45.6%)
-18.8%prior 32
Clear/Clear12 (21.1%)
71.4%prior 7
Rain5 (8.8%)
Cloudy4 (7.0%)
-20.0%prior 5
Clear/Other3 (5.3%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (3.5%)
Rain/Rain2 (3.5%)
Rain/Clear1 (1.8%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.8%)
Rain/Other1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight31 (54.4%)
-8.8%prior 34
Dark - roadway not lighted14 (24.6%)
75.0%prior 8
Dark - lighted roadway5 (8.8%)
0.0%prior 5
Dawn4 (7.0%)
Dusk2 (3.5%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry44 (77.2%)
-4.3%prior 46
Wet13 (22.8%)
160.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes (Toyota, Ford, Honda) remained consistent in count year-over-year. Notable shifts in age distribution include a significant increase in persons aged 21-25 (from 14 to 23), 45-54 (from 10 to 18), and 65+ (from 6 to 14) involved in crashes.

Top Vehicle Makes (113 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA15 (13.3%)
0.0%prior 15
2
FORD10 (8.8%)
0.0%prior 10
3
HONDA9 (8%)
0.0%prior 9
4
JEEP7 (6.2%)
5
CHEVROLET7 (6.2%)
0.0%prior 7
6
NISSAN7 (6.2%)
16.7%prior 6
7
SUBARU6 (5.3%)
8
HYUNDAI5 (4.4%)
9
LEXUS4 (3.5%)
10
MAZDA3 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (122 persons with recorded sex)

Male83 (68.0%)
38.3%prior 60
Female39 (32.0%)
-17.0%prior 47

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased by 5 incidents, from 7 in October 2024 to 12 in October 2025. Crashes in 65 mph zones also saw an increase of 3 incidents, rising from 15 to 18. Conversely, crashes in 40 mph zones decreased by 3 incidents, from 11 to 8.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · 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: 2025-10-01 through 2025-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-10-01 through 2025-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHARLTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 57
  • Total persons involved: 142
  • Total vehicles involved: 113

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: October 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/charlton/october-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 — October 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com