Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

70 CRASHES IN
CHELMSFORD, MA
DECEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2024

CHELMSFORD experienced a substantial increase in total crashes, rising from 45 in December 2024 to 70 in December 2025, marking a 55.6% increase year-over-year. Despite this rise in crash incidents, total injuries decreased by 41.2%, from 17 injuries in the prior period to 10 injuries in the current period.

70

55.6%was 45

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

-41.2%was 17

Persons Injured

3

50.0%was 2

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 · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash incidents in CHELMSFORD, with total crashes rising from 45 in December 2024 to 70 in December 2025. This represents a 55.6% increase in crash volume year-over-year.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2025

50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased in count from 2 in December 2024 to 3 in December 2025. However, the hit-and-run rate slightly decreased from 4.4% in the prior period to 4.3% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 15-33.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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 Friday with 11 crashes in December 2024 to Tuesday with 15 crashes in December 2025. The peak hour also shifted, from 4 PM with 9 crashes in the prior period to 3 PM with 10 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both December 2024 and December 2025 reported zero fatalities. Total injuries decreased from 17 in the prior period to 10 in the current period, despite an increase in total crashes. The share of crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased from 13.3% to 11.4%, and possible injuries decreased from 11.1% to 2.9% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury8minor injury crashes11.4%
33.3%prior 6
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes2.9%
-60.0%prior 5
No Injury60no injury crashes85.7%
81.8%prior 33

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of 'No improper driving' as a contributing factor increased from 16 crashes in the prior period to 19 crashes in the current period, although its share of total crashes decreased from 35.6% to 27.1%. 'Driving too fast for conditions' saw a notable increase in count from 1 crash (2.2% share) to 7 crashes (10% share). Additionally, 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' increased from 1 crash to 5 crashes year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving19 (27.1%)18.8%prior 16
Failed to yield right of way9 (12.9%)50.0%prior 6
Driving too fast for conditions7 (10%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (10%)16.7%prior 6
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (7.1%)
Followed too closely4 (5.7%)-20.0%prior 5
Physical impairment4 (5.7%)
Inattention3 (4.3%)
Made an improper turn2 (2.9%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions increased from 22 in December 2024 to 35 in December 2025. Similarly, crashes during 'Daylight' conditions rose from 19 to 39. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces also increased significantly from 26 to 42, while crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces remained stable at 14.

Weather

Clear/Clear35 (50.0%)
59.1%prior 22
Cloudy/Cloudy7 (10.0%)
Clear6 (8.6%)
Snow/Cloudy4 (5.7%)
Rain/Rain3 (4.3%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (4.3%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (4.3%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow1 (1.4%)
Snow/Rain1 (1.4%)
Snow/Snow1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight39 (55.7%)
105.3%prior 19
Dark - lighted roadway13 (18.6%)
-13.3%prior 15
Dark - roadway not lighted8 (11.4%)
Dusk5 (7.1%)
Dawn3 (4.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry42 (60.0%)
61.5%prior 26
Wet14 (20.0%)
0.0%prior 14
Snow8 (11.4%)
Slush4 (5.7%)
Ice2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 84 in December 2024 to 135 in December 2025. Toyota remained the top make involved, with its count rising from 19 to 26, and Honda increased from 12 to 20. The age groups with the highest number of persons involved shifted from 16-20 (21 persons) in the prior period to 35-44 and 65+ (both 24 persons) in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (135 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA26 (19.3%)
36.8%prior 19
2
HONDA20 (14.8%)
66.7%prior 12
3
FORD17 (12.6%)
142.9%prior 7
4
NISSAN10 (7.4%)
100.0%prior 5
5
CHEVROLET6 (4.4%)
6
KIA6 (4.4%)
7
HYUNDAI6 (4.4%)
8
GMC4 (3%)
9
JEEP4 (3%)
10
SUBARU4 (3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (159 persons with recorded sex)

Male91 (57.2%)
54.2%prior 59
Female68 (42.8%)
38.8%prior 49

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 65 mph speed zone saw a substantial increase, rising from 6 crashes in December 2024 to 20 crashes in December 2025. Crashes in the 30 mph zone remained relatively stable, increasing slightly from 20 to 23. Neither period reported any fatalities in any speed zone.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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: 2025-12-01 through 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-12-01 through 2025-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELMSFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 70
  • Total persons involved: 168
  • Total vehicles involved: 135

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). "CHELMSFORD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelmsford/december-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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Chelmsford, MA Crash Report — December 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com