Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

11 CRASHES IN
CHATHAM, MA
JULY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2023

In July 2024, Chatham experienced a substantial increase in total crashes, rising from 5 in July 2023 to 11, marking a 120% increase year-over-year. This period also saw a 200% increase in total injuries, from 2 to 6. The most notable shift was the 400% increase in crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way,' which became the leading contributing factor.

11

120.0%was 5

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

200.0%was 2

Persons Injured

0

Fatal Crash Events

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 · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash incidents year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 5 in July 2023 to 11 in July 2024, a 120% increase. This upward trend is further supported by a 200% increase in total injuries, from 2 to 6, suggesting a worsening safety situation.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1400.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal pattern of crashes shifted, with July 2024 showing peak activity on Fridays and Sundays, each with 3 crashes, whereas July 2023 had peak days on Wednesdays and Sundays, each with 2 crashes. The peak hour for crashes also changed from multiple hours with 1 crash each in July 2023 to 2 PM with 3 crashes in July 2024. This suggests a shift towards afternoon and weekend incidents.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both periods reported no fatalities. The number of injured persons increased from 2 in July 2023 to 6 in July 2024, representing a 200% increase. Minor injuries saw a significant rise from 1 crash in the prior period to 5 crashes in the current period, while possible injuries remained constant at 1 crash. Crashes with no injuries accounted for a smaller share in July 2024 at 45.5%, compared to 60% in July 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury5minor injury crashes45.5%
400.0%prior 1
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes9.1%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury5no injury crashes45.5%
66.7%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor shifted from 'No improper driving' in July 2023 (2 crashes) to 'Failed to yield right of way' in July 2024 (5 crashes). Crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' increased by 400% from 1 crash in the prior period to 5 crashes in the current period. While 'No improper driving' remained constant at 2 crashes, its share of total crashes decreased from 40% to 18.2%.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way5 (45.5%)
No improper driving2 (18.2%)
Distracted1 (9.1%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (9.1%)
Glare1 (9.1%)
Inattention1 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather increased from 2 in July 2023 to 5 in July 2024, and cloudy conditions also saw an increase from 3 to 4 crashes. July 2024 also reported 1 crash in rainy conditions and 1 in clear/cloudy conditions, which were not present in the prior period's data. Road surface data for July 2023 was not available for comparison.

Weather

Clear5 (45.5%)
Cloudy4 (36.4%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (9.1%)
Rain1 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Road Surface

Dry10 (90.9%)
Wet1 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (20 vehicles)

1
HONDA4 (20%)
2
TOYOTA3 (15%)
3
SUBARU2 (10%)
4
BMW2 (10%)
5
ISU1 (5%)
6
JEEP1 (5%)
7
LINC1 (5%)
8
MERCEDES-BENZ1 (5%)
9
NISSAN1 (5%)
10
VOLVO1 (5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (26 persons with recorded sex)

Male15 (57.7%)
150.0%prior 6
Female11 (42.3%)
0.0%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 2 in July 2023 to 3 in July 2024, and crashes in 40 mph zones also rose from 2 to 3. The number of crashes in 45 mph zones remained constant at 1. Additionally, July 2024 reported crashes in 25 mph (1 crash) and 35 mph (3 crashes) zones, which were not observed in the prior period's data. Both periods reported no fatal crashes across all speed zones.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · 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: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHATHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 11
  • Total persons involved: 27
  • Total vehicles involved: 20

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). "CHATHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chatham/july-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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Chatham, MA Crash Report — July 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com