Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

72 CRASHES IN
CHELMSFORD, MA
OCTOBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2024

Total crashes in Chelmsford increased by 12.5%, from 64 in October 2024 to 72 in October 2025. This period saw a significant increase in crashes attributed to "Driving too fast for conditions," rising from a low count in the prior year to 10 crashes in the current period.

72

12.5%was 64

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

23

-8.0%was 25

Persons Injured

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is 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

Overall, total crashes in Chelmsford increased year-over-year, rising by 12.5% from 64 crashes in October 2024 to 72 crashes in October 2025. Despite the increase in total crashes, the number of total injuries decreased slightly from 25 to 23, an 8% reduction.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2025

0.0% vs prior (2)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained consistent at 2 in both October 2024 and October 2025. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate saw a minor decrease from 3.1% in the prior period to 2.8% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

21

Motorists Injured

Prior: 23-8.7%

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 remained Thursday in both periods, with crashes on this day increasing from 14 in October 2024 to 19 in October 2025. The peak hour for crashes also remained consistent at 4 PM, recording 10 crashes in both periods. Notably, crashes on Monday increased significantly from 7 to 13, while Saturday saw a decrease from 11 to 7 crashes.

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 0 in both October 2024 and October 2025, indicating no change in the fatal crash rate. While total injuries decreased from 25 to 23, the proportion of minor injury crashes increased from 15.6% (10 crashes) to 18.1% (13 crashes). Conversely, possible injury crashes decreased in proportion from 15.6% (10 crashes) to 9.7% (7 crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury13minor injury crashes18.1%
30.0%prior 10
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes9.7%
-30.0%prior 10
No Injury51no injury crashes70.8%
15.9%prior 44

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" decreased significantly by 7 crashes, from 16 in October 2024 to 9 in October 2025. "Driving too fast for conditions" saw a substantial increase, rising from a low count in the prior period to 10 crashes in the current period. Additionally, crashes attributed to "Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road" rose from 2 to 10, an increase of 8 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving13 (18.1%)18.2%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions10 (13.9%)
Failed to yield right of way10 (13.9%)0.0%prior 10
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road10 (13.9%)
Followed too closely9 (12.5%)-43.8%prior 16
Inattention4 (5.6%)
Illness2 (2.8%)
Made an improper turn2 (2.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.8%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (1.4%)

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 significantly, rising from 5 in October 2024 to 22 in October 2025. This corresponds with a notable increase in crashes under adverse weather conditions, which rose from 9 to 22 during the same period. The distribution of crashes by lighting conditions remained relatively stable, with crashes occurring in dark conditions showing a minor increase from 13 to 15.

Weather

Clear/Clear39 (54.2%)
-7.1%prior 42
Clear10 (13.9%)
-23.1%prior 13
Cloudy/Rain6 (8.3%)
Rain/Cloudy6 (8.3%)
Rain/Rain6 (8.3%)
Rain2 (2.8%)
Rain/Unknown1 (1.4%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (1.4%)
Clear/Rain1 (1.4%)

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

Lighting

Daylight51 (70.8%)
10.9%prior 46
Dark - lighted roadway9 (12.5%)
28.6%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (8.3%)
0.0%prior 6
Dawn3 (4.2%)
Dusk3 (4.2%)

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

Road Surface

Dry50 (69.4%)
-15.3%prior 59
Wet22 (30.6%)
340.0%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 16-20 age group saw a substantial increase in persons involved in crashes, rising from 8 in October 2024 to 25 in October 2025. Conversely, the 65+ age group experienced a decrease, with persons involved dropping from 31 to 19. Regarding vehicle makes, TOYOTA vehicles involved in crashes increased from 21 to 30, while HONDA vehicles decreased from 24 to 18.

Top Vehicle Makes (133 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA30 (22.6%)
42.9%prior 21
2
HONDA18 (13.5%)
-25.0%prior 24
3
SUBARU9 (6.8%)
4
CHEVROLET9 (6.8%)
-35.7%prior 14
5
NISSAN8 (6%)
14.3%prior 7
6
KIA4 (3%)
7
HYUNDAI4 (3%)
-50.0%prior 8
8
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (2.3%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN3 (2.3%)
-40.0%prior 5
10
GMC3 (2.3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (151 persons with recorded sex)

Male95 (62.9%)
-1.0%prior 96
Female56 (37.1%)
3.7%prior 54

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 the 25 mph speed zone increased from 7 in October 2024 to 11 in October 2025. Similarly, crashes in the 35 mph zone rose from 6 to 9, and the 30 mph zone saw an increase from 16 to 18 crashes. The 65 mph speed zone experienced a slight decrease in crashes, from 28 to 27, and no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

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: CHELMSFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 72
  • Total persons involved: 158
  • Total vehicles involved: 133

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: 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/chelmsford/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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Chelmsford, MA Crash Report — October 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com