Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

67 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
FEBRUARY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2023

CHELSEA, MA experienced a slight decrease in total crashes in February 2024 compared to February 2023, with 67 crashes versus 71 crashes, representing a 5.6% reduction. The most notable shift was the absence of fatalities in February 2024, down from one fatality in the prior year.

67

-5.6%was 71

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

22

46.7%was 15

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash incidents in CHELSEA showed a slight downward trend, with total crashes decreasing from 71 in February 2023 to 67 in February 2024. While fatalities dropped from one to zero, total injuries increased by 46.7%, rising from 15 to 22 over the same period.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2024

0.0% vs prior (2)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained stable at 2 incidents for both February 2023 and February 2024. The hit-and-run rate showed a slight increase from 2.8% to 3% year-over-year, despite the total number of crashes decreasing.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1300.0%

17

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1241.7%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 10.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · 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 15 crashes in February 2023 to Thursday with 19 crashes in February 2024. The peak hour also changed, moving from 12 PM with 6 crashes in the prior year to 3 PM with 8 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes were eliminated in February 2024, down from one in February 2023. However, total injuries increased by 46.7%, rising from 15 to 22, with one serious injury (severity 'A') reported in the current period where none were recorded in the prior year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.5%
Minor Injury9minor injury crashes13.4%
50.0%prior 6
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes10.4%
0.0%prior 7
No Injury50no injury crashes74.6%
-7.4%prior 54

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased by 8 incidents, from 33 in February 2023 to 25 in February 2024. The share of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 46.5% to 37.3%. 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' also saw a decrease in count, from 3 crashes to 1 crash.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving25 (37.3%)-24.2%prior 33
Other improper action2 (3%)
Inattention2 (3%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (3%)
Operating defective equipment1 (1.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.5%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (1.5%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (1.5%)
Distracted1 (1.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 55 to 61 year-over-year, while those in 'Wet' road surface conditions decreased from 7 to 2. Notably, crashes in 'Snow', 'Ice', and 'Slush' conditions, present in February 2023, were not reported in February 2024. Crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 29 to 19, while 'Daylight' crashes increased from 38 to 44.

Weather

Clear61 (91.0%)
10.9%prior 55
Cloudy4 (6.0%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.5%)
Rain1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight44 (65.7%)
15.8%prior 38
Dark - lighted roadway19 (28.4%)
-34.5%prior 29
Dawn2 (3.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.5%)
Dusk1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry64 (95.5%)
20.8%prior 53
Wet2 (3.0%)
-71.4%prior 7
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved remained constant at 135 for both periods. Toyota, which was the top vehicle make in February 2023 with 26 vehicles, saw its count decrease to 23, tying with Honda, which increased from 20 to 23. The 35-44 age group experienced the largest decrease in persons involved, dropping from 43 to 29.

Top Vehicle Makes (135 vehicles)

1
HONDA23 (17%)
15.0%prior 20
2
TOYOTA23 (17%)
-11.5%prior 26
3
FORD14 (10.4%)
0.0%prior 14
4
JEEP9 (6.7%)
80.0%prior 5
5
HYUNDAI7 (5.2%)
6
NISSAN7 (5.2%)
-53.3%prior 15
7
CHEVROLET6 (4.4%)
0.0%prior 6
8
INFI5 (3.7%)
9
MAZDA5 (3.7%)
0.0%prior 5
10
KIA5 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (150 persons with recorded sex)

Male84 (56.0%)
-20.0%prior 105
Female65 (43.3%)
6.6%prior 61
X / Unspecified1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones increased slightly from 52 in February 2023 to 55 in February 2024. There was a positive shift in safety for this speed zone, as the single fatal crash recorded at 25 mph in the prior period was not repeated in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · 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: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29 (29 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 67
  • Total persons involved: 172
  • 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). "CHELSEA, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/february-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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Chelsea, MA Crash Report — February 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com