Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

17 CRASHES IN
FRANKLIN, MA
AUGUST 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2023

In August 2024, FRANKLIN, MA experienced 17 crashes, a decrease of 22.7% compared to the 22 crashes reported in August 2023. Despite this reduction in overall crash incidents, total injuries increased by 20%, rising from 5 in the prior year to 6 in the current period. Fatalities remained at zero in both August 2023 and August 2024.

17

-22.7%was 22

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

20.0%was 5

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash incidents in FRANKLIN, MA saw a notable decrease year-over-year, falling by 22.7% from 22 crashes in August 2023 to 17 crashes in August 2024. Conversely, the number of total injuries increased by 20%, rising from 5 to 6 over the same period. There were no crash fatalities reported in either August 2023 or August 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 520.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · 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 Saturday in August 2023, with 5 crashes, to Thursday in August 2024, which recorded 6 crashes. The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 9 p.m. with 4 crashes in August 2023 to 7 p.m. with 2 crashes in August 2024. Monday had no crashes in August 2024, compared to 1 crash in August 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either August 2023 or August 2024. The total number of injury crashes increased from 5 in August 2023 to 6 in August 2024, representing a 20% rise. Notably, August 2024 reported 1 serious injury crash and 1 minor injury crash, categories not present in August 2023, which only recorded 5 possible injury crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes5.9%
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes5.9%
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes11.8%
-60.0%prior 5
No Injury13no injury crashes76.5%
-18.8%prior 16

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 62.5%, from 8 crashes in August 2023 to 3 crashes in August 2024. Conversely, crashes with 'No improper driving' as a factor increased by 50%, rising from 4 to 6 crashes year-over-year. 'Inattention' emerged as a notable contributing factor in August 2024, accounting for 3 crashes, while it was not among the listed top factors in August 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (35.3%)
Failed to yield right of way3 (17.6%)-62.5%prior 8
Inattention3 (17.6%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (11.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (5.9%)
Distracted1 (5.9%)
Operating defective equipment1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions decreased by 50%, from 8 in August 2023 to 4 in August 2024. Crashes in 'Daylight' conditions remained constant at 13 incidents, though their proportion of total crashes increased from 59.1% to 76.5% year-over-year. Incidents occurring in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions, which accounted for 3 crashes in August 2023, were not reported in August 2024.

Weather

Clear11 (64.7%)
37.5%prior 8
Clear/Clear4 (23.5%)
-50.0%prior 8
Clear/Cloudy1 (5.9%)
Rain1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight13 (76.5%)
0.0%prior 13
Dark - lighted roadway3 (17.6%)
Dusk1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry16 (94.1%)
-11.1%prior 18
Wet1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (31 vehicles)

1
HONDA6 (19.4%)
2
TOYOTA6 (19.4%)
20.0%prior 5
3
AUDI2 (6.5%)
4
FORD2 (6.5%)
5
JEEP2 (6.5%)
6
KIA2 (6.5%)
7
NISSAN2 (6.5%)
8
SUBARU1 (3.2%)
9
BMW1 (3.2%)
10
LEXUS1 (3.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (38 persons with recorded sex)

Female21 (55.3%)
5.0%prior 20
Male17 (44.7%)
-26.1%prior 23

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The number of crashes with recorded speed limits decreased from 14 in August 2023 to 6 in August 2024. Crashes occurring in 65 MPH zones decreased by 66.7%, from 3 crashes in August 2023 to 1 crash in August 2024. Speed limit zones of 30 MPH and 35 MPH, which collectively accounted for 7 crashes in August 2023, were not represented in the August 2024 data. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · 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: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: FRANKLIN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 17
  • Total persons involved: 39
  • Total vehicles involved: 31

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: August 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/franklin/august-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

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Franklin, MA Crash Report — August 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com