Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

25 CRASHES IN
FRANKLIN, MA
APRIL 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2025

Total crashes in FRANKLIN, MA decreased by 16.67% from 30 in April 2025 to 25 in April 2026. The most notable shift was a significant 76.92% reduction in total injuries, falling from 13 to 3 over the year.

25

-16.7%was 30

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

-76.9%was 13

Persons Injured

4

300.0%was 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 · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for April in FRANKLIN, MA shows a downward trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 5, from 30 in April 2025 to 25 in April 2026, representing a 16.67% reduction. Fatalities remained at zero in both periods, while total injuries saw a substantial decrease from 13 to 3, a 76.92% decline.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2026

300.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly year-over-year, rising from 1 crash in April 2025 to 4 crashes in April 2026. This represents a 300% increase in the count of hit-and-run incidents. The hit-and-run rate also climbed from 3.3% of total crashes in the prior period to 16% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 13-76.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns for crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes changed from Saturday with 9 crashes in April 2025 to Friday with 7 crashes in April 2026. Similarly, the peak crash hour moved from 8 AM with 4 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 5 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either April 2025 or April 2026. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury increased from 66.7% in April 2025 to 84% in April 2026. Conversely, crashes with any injury decreased, with minor injuries falling from 20% to 12% and serious injuries (6.7%) and possible injuries (6.7%) from the prior period being absent in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes12%
-50.0%prior 6
No Injury21no injury crashes84%
5.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor 'No improper driving' increased significantly, from 3 crashes in April 2025 to 7 crashes in April 2026, a 133.3% increase in count. 'Failed to yield right of way' also saw an increase from 3 crashes to 5 crashes, a 66.7% increase in count. Conversely, 'Inattention' decreased by 80% in count, from 5 crashes in April 2025 to 1 crash in April 2026.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving7 (28%)
Failed to yield right of way5 (20%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (8%)
Inattention1 (4%)-80.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (4%)
Emotional1 (4%)
Followed too closely1 (4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The distribution of crash conditions showed some shifts; crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather decreased from 12 to 6, while 'Clear/Clear' conditions increased from 7 to 8. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces decreased slightly from 21 to 19, and crashes on 'Snow', 'Ice', and 'Slush' surfaces, present in the prior period, were absent in the current period. Lighting conditions remained relatively stable, with 'Daylight' crashes decreasing from 20 to 19 and 'Dark - lighted roadway' remaining at 4 crashes.

Weather

Clear/Clear8 (40.0%)
14.3%prior 7
Clear6 (30.0%)
-50.0%prior 12
Cloudy2 (10.0%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (10.0%)
Rain2 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight19 (76.0%)
-5.0%prior 20
Dark - lighted roadway4 (16.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (4.0%)
Dawn1 (4.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry19 (82.6%)
-9.5%prior 21
Wet4 (17.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (46 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA7 (15.2%)
-12.5%prior 8
2
HONDA6 (13%)
3
FORD4 (8.7%)
-42.9%prior 7
4
NISSAN3 (6.5%)
-62.5%prior 8
5
MAZDA3 (6.5%)
6
AUDI2 (4.3%)
7
SUBARU2 (4.3%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN2 (4.3%)
9
HYUNDAI1 (2.2%)
10
INTERNATIONAL1 (2.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (47 persons with recorded sex)

Male30 (63.8%)
-23.1%prior 39
Female17 (36.2%)
-41.4%prior 29

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Fatalities remained at zero across all recorded speed zones in both periods. Crashes in the 65 mph speed zone decreased from 5 in April 2025 to 2 in April 2026. Conversely, crashes in the 35 mph speed zone increased from 1 to 2, and in the 40 mph speed zone from 2 to 3. The 25 mph speed zone appeared in the current period with 1 crash, while 30 mph and 45 mph zones from the prior period were not present in the current data.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · 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: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: FRANKLIN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 25
  • Total persons involved: 51
  • Total vehicles involved: 46

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). "FRANKLIN, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/franklin/april-2026-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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Franklin, MA Crash Report — April 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com