Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

7 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
SEPTEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2024

In September 2025, CHELSEA experienced 7 crashes, a significant 90.3% decrease from the 72 crashes recorded in September 2024. Despite the overall reduction in incidents, the hit-and-run crash rate increased sharply from 6.9% to 28.6% year-over-year.

7

-90.3%was 72

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

-88.0%was 25

Persons Injured

2

-60.0%was 5

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 · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in CHELSEA saw a substantial downward trend, decreasing by 90.3% from 72 crashes in September 2024 to 7 crashes in September 2025. This represents a reduction of 65 crashes year-over-year.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2025

-60.0% vs prior (5)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 5 in September 2024 to 2 in September 2025. Despite this, the hit-and-run crash rate saw a substantial increase from 6.9% in the prior period to 28.6% in the current period, indicating a higher proportion of crashes involved hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 14-78.6%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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 Wednesday and Sunday in September 2024 (13 crashes each) to Saturday in September 2025 (3 crashes). The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 3 PM with 9 crashes in the prior period to 10 PM with 2 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both September 2025 and September 2024 recorded no fatalities or fatal crashes. The total number of injuries decreased from 25 in September 2024 to 3 in September 2025. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor or possible injuries increased from 32% in the prior period to 42.9% in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes28.6%
-83.3%prior 12
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes14.3%
-88.9%prior 9
No Injury3no injury crashes42.9%
-93.9%prior 49

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Comparing contributing factors, crashes involving 'Followed too closely' increased from 1 in September 2024 to 2 in September 2025, a 100% increase in count. Conversely, 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' decreased from 4 crashes to 1 crash, a 75% reduction in count. 'Physical impairment' remained constant with 1 crash in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely2 (28.6%)
Other improper action2 (28.6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (14.3%)
Physical impairment1 (14.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

There were no reported crashes under rain-related weather conditions in September 2025, a decrease from 10 such crashes in September 2024. Crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased in proportion, accounting for 71.4% of crashes (5 out of 7) in September 2025 compared to 27.8% (20 out of 72) in September 2024. Road surface condition data was not available for the current period.

Weather

Clear/Clear4 (57.1%)
Clear2 (28.6%)
-96.1%prior 51
Cloudy1 (14.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway5 (71.4%)
-75.0%prior 20
Daylight2 (28.6%)
-96.2%prior 52

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (13 vehicles)

1
HONDA3 (23.1%)
-80.0%prior 15
2
TOYOTA2 (15.4%)
-92.6%prior 27
3
FORD2 (15.4%)
-80.0%prior 10
4
KIA1 (7.7%)
5
MERCEDES-BENZ1 (7.7%)
6
BMW1 (7.7%)
7
DODGE1 (7.7%)
8
GMC1 (7.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (11 persons with recorded sex)

Male8 (72.7%)
-91.7%prior 96
Female3 (27.3%)
-95.5%prior 66

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes at 25 mph speed limits significantly decreased from 53 in September 2024 to 2 in September 2025. Similarly, crashes at 35 mph and 45 mph limits also saw reductions, from 5 to 1 and 4 to 1 respectively. However, crashes at 50 mph speed limits increased from 1 to 2 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 7
  • Total persons involved: 15
  • Total vehicles involved: 13

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: September 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/september-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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Chelsea, MA Crash Report — September 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com