Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

980 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Chelsea recorded 980 total traffic crashes, a 6.8% decrease from the 1,051 crashes in 2023. While overall crashes declined, the number of fatal crashes increased from 2 to 3. One of the most notable shifts was a 40% increase in crashes involving pedestrians, which rose from 35 in 2023 to 49 in 2024.

980

-6.8%was 1,051

Total Crash Events

3

50.0%was 2

Persons Killed

358

2.6%was 349

Persons Injured

41

-25.5%was 55

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (3) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 13 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash volume in Chelsea decreased by 6.8% from 1,051 incidents in 2023 to 980 in 2024. Despite the drop in total crashes, the number of people injured rose slightly by 2.6% from 349 to 358. Fatalities also increased, with 3 individuals killed in 2024 compared to 2 in the prior year.

41

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

-25.5% vs prior (55)

Hit-and-run incidents decreased from 2023 to 2024. The total number of hit-and-run crashes fell from 55 to 41. The hit-and-run rate, representing the percentage of all crashes that were hit-and-runs, also trended down, declining from 5.2% in 2023 to 4.2% in 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 2-50.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

41

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3132.3%

12

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 119.1%

297

Motorists Injured

Prior: 305-2.6%

8

Other Injured

Prior: 2300.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday (183 crashes) in 2023 to Thursday (159 crashes) in 2024. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions shifted one hour earlier, from the 4 p.m. hour in 2023 (86 crashes) to the 3 p.m. hour in 2024 (84 crashes).

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes decreased, their severity profile shifted year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes increased from 2 to 3, and the fatal crash rate rose from 0.19% to 0.31%. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries grew from 10.8% (113 crashes) of all incidents in 2023 to 15.5% (152 crashes) in 2024. Consequently, the share of crashes with no reported injuries fell from 73.9% to 71.4%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal3fatal crashes0.3%
50.0%prior 2
Serious Injury14serious injury crashes1.4%
-6.7%prior 15
Minor Injury152minor injury crashes15.5%
34.5%prior 113
Possible Injury98possible injury crashes10%
-3.0%prior 101
No Injury700no injury crashes71.4%
-9.9%prior 777

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors remained broadly consistent, with 'No improper driving' being the most common finding in both years, though its count fell from 369 to 324. The count for crashes attributed to 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' saw a notable 66.7% increase, rising from 12 incidents in 2023 to 20 in 2024. Conversely, crashes involving 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' decreased from a count of 38 to 28.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving324 (33.1%)-12.2%prior 369
Other improper action47 (4.8%)14.6%prior 41
Failed to yield right of way38 (3.9%)11.8%prior 34
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner28 (2.9%)-26.3%prior 38
Inattention23 (2.3%)-23.3%prior 30
Followed too closely21 (2.1%)-4.5%prior 22
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings20 (2%)66.7%prior 12
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road17 (1.7%)-10.5%prior 19
Exceeded authorized speed limit11 (1.1%)10.0%prior 10
Physical impairment11 (1.1%)10.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions remained largely stable year-over-year, with the majority of incidents in both periods occurring in daylight and on dry roads. In 2024, 84.1% of crashes happened on dry surfaces, compared to 82.6% in 2023. There was a slight decrease in the proportion of crashes occurring in adverse weather, with crashes during rain accounting for 5.9% of the total in 2024, down from 7.5% in 2023.

Weather

Clear750 (76.8%)
-6.9%prior 806
Rain58 (5.9%)
-26.6%prior 79
Cloudy55 (5.6%)
-22.5%prior 71
Clear/Clear22 (2.3%)
Clear/Cloudy14 (1.4%)
-26.3%prior 19
Cloudy/Rain13 (1.3%)
0.0%prior 13
Clear/Unknown13 (1.3%)
Rain/Cloudy8 (0.8%)
0.0%prior 8
Clear/Other8 (0.8%)
Snow8 (0.8%)
-42.9%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight628 (64.2%)
-3.7%prior 652
Dark - lighted roadway299 (30.6%)
-8.8%prior 328
Dusk19 (1.9%)
-17.4%prior 23
Dawn15 (1.5%)
-42.3%prior 26
Dark - roadway not lighted13 (1.3%)
0.0%prior 13
Dark - unknown roadway lighting4 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry824 (84.3%)
-5.1%prior 868
Wet125 (12.8%)
-18.8%prior 154
Snow12 (1.2%)
-7.7%prior 13
Ice8 (0.8%)
-20.0%prior 10
Slush6 (0.6%)
20.0%prior 5
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel3 (0.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The demographic profile of vehicles and persons involved in crashes showed little change year-over-year. Toyota, Honda, and Ford were the top three vehicle makes involved in crashes in both 2023 and 2024, with their counts decreasing in line with the overall drop in total vehicles. The age distribution of persons involved also remained consistent, with the 26-34 age group representing the largest cohort in both years, accounting for 20.9% of persons in 2023 and 20.3% in 2024.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,948 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA400 (20.5%)
-5.0%prior 421
2
HONDA322 (16.5%)
-12.5%prior 368
3
FORD192 (9.9%)
-13.1%prior 221
4
NISSAN133 (6.8%)
-16.9%prior 160
5
CHEVROLET115 (5.9%)
16.2%prior 99
6
JEEP85 (4.4%)
-2.3%prior 87
7
HYUNDAI66 (3.4%)
17.9%prior 56
8
MERCEDES-BENZ41 (2.1%)
-24.1%prior 54
9
GMC40 (2.1%)
37.9%prior 29
10
KIA39 (2%)
14.7%prior 34

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (2,210 persons with recorded sex)

Male1,385 (62.7%)
-7.9%prior 1,503
Female824 (37.3%)
-3.6%prior 855
X / Unspecified1 (0.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The concentration of crashes in 25 mph zones increased in 2024. While the absolute number of crashes in these zones was stable (771 in 2024 vs. 767 in 2023), they accounted for a larger share of the total, rising from 73.0% in 2023 to 78.7% in 2024. Both years saw 2 fatal crashes in 25 mph zones; however, 2024 recorded an additional fatality in a 50 mph zone, a speed zone that had no fatal crashes in the prior year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 2 of 771 (0.259%) · 50 mph: 1 of 19 (5.263%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 980
  • Total persons involved: 2,500
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,948

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). "CHELSEA, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/2024-annual-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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Chelsea, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com