ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · FITCHBURG, MA · MAY 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/fitchburg/may-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
110 CRASHES IN
FITCHBURG, MA
MAY 2024
In May 2024, Fitchburg experienced 110 total crashes, an increase from 83 crashes in May 2023. This represents a 32.53% rise in overall crash incidents year-over-year. The most notable shift was a decrease in fatalities, with 0 reported in May 2024 compared to 1 fatality in May 2023.
110
▲ 32.5%was 83
Total Crash Events
0
▼ -100.0%was 1
Persons Killed
28
▲ 86.7%was 15
Persons Injured
8
▼ -33.3%was 12
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. 10 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, crash incidents in Fitchburg increased year-over-year, rising from 83 crashes in May 2023 to 110 crashes in May 2024, a 32.53% increase. Total injuries also saw an increase, from 15 in May 2023 to 28 in May 2024. Conversely, fatalities decreased from 1 in May 2023 to 0 in May 2024.
8
Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2024
▼ -33.3% vs prior (12)
The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 12 in May 2023 to 8 in May 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 14.5% of total crashes in May 2023 to 7.3% in May 2024.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Motorists Killed
28
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · 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 Wednesday with 16 incidents in May 2023 to Thursday with 21 incidents in May 2024. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 2 PM with 8 incidents in May 2023 to 5 PM with 15 incidents in May 2024.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The severity distribution shifted significantly, with 0 fatal crashes and 0 fatalities in May 2024, down from 1 fatal crash and 1 fatality in May 2023. Minor injuries (severity B) increased from 5 crashes (6% of total) in May 2023 to 17 crashes (15.5% of total) in May 2024. Total injuries increased from 15 to 28 year-over-year.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Several contributing factors saw notable changes in crash counts. 'Inattention' crashes increased from 13 in May 2023 to 24 in May 2024, and 'Followed too closely' crashes increased from 6 to 17. 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes also rose significantly from 3 to 16, while 'No improper driving' crashes decreased from 22 to 18.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 75 in May 2023 to 83 in May 2024. Crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces saw a substantial increase, rising from 6 incidents in May 2023 to 19 in May 2024. Crashes during 'Daylight' conditions increased from 67 to 88 year-over-year.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of persons involved in crashes increased from 187 in May 2023 to 279 in May 2024. The 0-15 age group saw a significant increase in representation, from 11 persons to 31 persons. Toyota and Honda swapped their top two positions in vehicle make rankings, with Toyota becoming the most frequently involved make in May 2024 (29 vehicles) compared to Honda (18 vehicles) in May 2023.
Top Vehicle Makes (213 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Vehicle unit records
33 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (246 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 33 in May 2023 to 53 in May 2024, and those in the 30 mph zone increased from 21 to 23. There was a fatal crash in a 35 mph zone in May 2023, while no fatal crashes were recorded across any speed zone in May 2024. Overall, there was an increase in crash counts across most speed zones.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · 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: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: FITCHBURG, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 110
- Total persons involved: 279
- Total vehicles involved: 213
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). "FITCHBURG, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/fitchburg/may-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: 2024-05-01 – 2024-05-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved