ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · DALTON, MA · FEBRUARY 2024
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/dalton/february-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
11 CRASHES IN
DALTON, MA
FEBRUARY 2024
In February 2024, DALTON experienced 11 total crashes, marking a 37.5% increase from the 8 crashes reported in February 2023. A notable shift was the decrease in total injuries by 50%, from 2 injuries in the prior period to 1 injury in the current period, despite the rise in overall crash incidents.
11
▲ 37.5%was 8
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
1
▼ -50.0%was 2
Persons Injured
1
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 · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, crashes in DALTON showed an upward trend year-over-year, increasing from 8 incidents in February 2023 to 11 incidents in February 2024, representing a 37.5% rise. Concurrently, total injuries decreased by 50%, from 2 to 1, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods.
1
Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2024
9.1% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Motorists Killed
1
Motorists Injured
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 temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in February 2023 (3 crashes) to Friday in February 2024 (3 crashes). The peak hour also changed significantly, from 7 PM (2 crashes) in the prior period to 7 AM (3 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 crash rates remained at 0% in both February 2023 and February 2024. Total injuries decreased from 2 in the prior period to 1 in the current period, resulting in a 50% reduction in injuries. The injury crash proportion decreased from 25% (2 injuries out of 8 crashes) in February 2023 to 9.1% (1 injury out of 11 crashes) in February 2024.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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
The top contributing factors saw shifts, with 'No improper driving' increasing from 3 crashes in February 2023 to 5 crashes in February 2024. Conversely, 'Inattention' crashes decreased by 50%, from 4 incidents in the prior period to 2 in the current period. 'Followed too closely,' 'Made an improper turn,' and 'Other improper action' each accounted for 1 crash in February 2024, none of which were present in February 2023.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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 5 in February 2023 to 10 in February 2024. 'Dry' road surface crashes also rose from 5 to 9 incidents year-over-year, while 'Wet' road surface crashes decreased from 3 to 1. Crashes in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 4 to 7, and 'Dark - lighted roadway' crashes increased from 2 to 4.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Top Vehicle Makes (20 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Vehicle unit records
2 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (22 persons with recorded sex)
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
The total number of crashes within reported speed zones increased from 8 in February 2023 to 11 in February 2024. Crashes in the 30 mph zone increased from 3 to 4, and crashes in the 35 mph zone also increased from 3 to 4. A crash was reported in a 5 mph zone in February 2024, which was not observed in the prior period, and no fatal crashes occurred in any speed zone in either 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: DALTON, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 11
- Total persons involved: 24
- Total vehicles involved: 20
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). "DALTON, 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/dalton/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2024-02-01 – 2024-02-29
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved