Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

33 CRASHES IN
DEDHAM, MA
JANUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2024

In January 2025, Dedham experienced 33 total crashes, a decrease of 34% compared to 50 crashes in January 2024. While total crashes and injuries saw a decline, hit-and-run crashes increased by 50% year-over-year, marking a notable shift in incident types.

33

-34.0%was 50

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

13

-7.1%was 14

Persons Injured

3

50.0%was 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 · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant decrease in total crashes, falling from 50 in January 2024 to 33 in January 2025. This represents a 34% reduction in the total number of reported incidents year-over-year.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2025

50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased by 1 incident, from 2 in January 2024 to 3 in January 2025. This change resulted in the hit-and-run rate rising from 4% to 9.1% of total crashes, indicating an upward trend in these incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 130.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Tuesday with 12 incidents in January 2024 to Monday with 8 incidents in January 2025. The peak hour for crashes remained consistent at 5 PM in both periods, although the count decreased from 8 crashes to 5 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both periods. Serious injury crashes increased from 1 (2% of total crashes) in January 2024 to 2 (6.1% of total crashes) in January 2025. The proportion of minor injury crashes also rose from 10% to 21.2% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes6.1%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes21.2%
40.0%prior 5
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes6.1%
-75.0%prior 8
No Injury21no injury crashes63.6%
-40.0%prior 35

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, "No improper driving," remained constant with 12 crashes in both periods. Crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" decreased by 3, from 8 crashes to 5 crashes, and "Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road" decreased by 2, from 5 crashes to 3 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving12 (36.4%)0.0%prior 12
Followed too closely5 (15.2%)-37.5%prior 8
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway3 (9.1%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (9.1%)-40.0%prior 5
Made an improper turn2 (6.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (3%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (3%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (3%)
Visibility obstructed1 (3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring on dry road surfaces increased from 62% in January 2024 to 75.8% in January 2025, while crashes on wet roads decreased from 20% to 12.1%. Crashes in daylight conditions increased proportionally from 36% to 48.5%, with a corresponding decrease in crashes occurring in dark, unlighted conditions from 22% to 9.1%.

Weather

Clear/Clear20 (60.6%)
5.3%prior 19
Clear5 (15.2%)
-37.5%prior 8
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (9.1%)
Clear/Unknown1 (3.0%)
Clear/Other1 (3.0%)
Rain/Rain1 (3.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Clear1 (3.0%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (3.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight16 (48.5%)
-11.1%prior 18
Dark - lighted roadway11 (33.3%)
-42.1%prior 19
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (9.1%)
-72.7%prior 11
Dawn3 (9.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry25 (75.8%)
-19.4%prior 31
Wet4 (12.1%)
-60.0%prior 10
Ice3 (9.1%)
Snow1 (3.0%)
-83.3%prior 6

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased by 24, from 88 in January 2024 to 64 in January 2025. While Honda and Toyota remained the top two vehicle makes, crashes involving Honda decreased from 15 to 10, and Toyota from 12 to 9. There was a notable increase in persons aged 65 and over involved in crashes, rising from 5 to 13.

Top Vehicle Makes (64 vehicles)

1
HONDA10 (15.6%)
-33.3%prior 15
2
TOYOTA9 (14.1%)
-25.0%prior 12
3
FORD7 (10.9%)
0.0%prior 7
4
NISSAN5 (7.8%)
5
KIA4 (6.3%)
6
HYUNDAI4 (6.3%)
-33.3%prior 6
7
CHEVROLET3 (4.7%)
-40.0%prior 5
8
JEEP3 (4.7%)
-40.0%prior 5
9
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (3.1%)
10
SUBARU1 (1.6%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (71 persons with recorded sex)

Male41 (57.7%)
-8.9%prior 45
Female30 (42.3%)
-30.2%prior 43

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone for either period. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 12 to 5, and crashes in 55 mph zones decreased from 16 to 8. The proportion of crashes occurring in 55 mph zones remained relatively stable, representing 47.1% of crashes with recorded speed limits in January 2024 and 44.4% in January 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · 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: 2025-01-01 through 2025-01-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: DEDHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 33
  • Total persons involved: 84
  • Total vehicles involved: 64

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). "DEDHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/dedham/january-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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Dedham, MA Crash Report — January 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com