Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

545 CRASHES IN
GARDNER, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In Gardner, total vehicle crashes decreased by 4.0% from 568 in the prior year to 545 in the current year. While total crashes fell, the number of people injured rose from 90 to 105. The most significant year-over-year change was the reduction in traffic fatalities, which dropped from two in the prior period to zero in the current period.

545

-4.0%was 568

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

105

16.7%was 90

Persons Injured

39

21.9%was 32

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. 26 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends in Gardner show a slight decrease, with total collisions falling from 568 to 545 year-over-year. Despite the 4.0% drop in total crashes, the number of people reported injured increased by 16.7%, from 90 to 105. However, traffic safety improved in the most severe category, as the number of fatalities fell from two to zero.

39

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

21.9% vs prior (32)

Hit-and-run incidents increased in both count and as a proportion of total crashes. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose from 32 in the prior year to 39 in the current year, a 21.9% increase. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also trended upward, increasing from 5.6% of all crashes to 7.2%.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2-100.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 7-14.3%

5

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 425.0%

92

Motorists Injured

Prior: 7916.5%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The daily and hourly patterns of crashes showed some shifts between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Thursday, with 98 crashes in the prior year, to Wednesday, with 91 crashes in the current year. The peak hour for collisions remained consistent at 3 p.m. in both periods, though the count at that hour decreased from 65 to 58 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity outcomes changed notably year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes dropped from two to zero, and total fatalities decreased accordingly from two to zero. Conversely, the count of serious injury crashes doubled from 7 to 14, and the number of minor injury crashes increased from 53 to 55. This resulted in an overall increase in total injuries from 90 to 105.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury14serious injury crashes2.6%
100.0%prior 7
Minor Injury55minor injury crashes10.1%
3.8%prior 53
Possible Injury14possible injury crashes2.6%
-6.7%prior 15
No Injury436no injury crashes80%
-5.6%prior 462

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

While 'Inattention' remained the top contributing factor in both periods, its count decreased by 27.4% from 164 to 119 crashes. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a 15.7% increase in count, rising from 89 to 103 incidents and becoming the second-most cited factor in the current year. The count for crashes with 'No improper driving' also increased from 96 to 109.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention119 (21.8%)-27.4%prior 164
No improper driving109 (20%)13.5%prior 96
Failed to yield right of way103 (18.9%)15.7%prior 89
Followed too closely27 (5%)22.7%prior 22
Distracted15 (2.8%)36.4%prior 11
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner15 (2.8%)-21.1%prior 19
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road14 (2.6%)-44.0%prior 25
Other improper action13 (2.4%)-18.8%prior 16
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings12 (2.2%)50.0%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions11 (2%)-35.3%prior 17

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes on dry roads remained constant at 415 in both periods, but their share of total crashes increased from 73.1% to 76.1% due to the overall decrease in collisions. Crashes in daylight conditions decreased from 422 to 390, and their share of the total also fell from 74.3% to 71.6%. Incidents during 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions increased from 27 to 46 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear334 (61.6%)
-9.7%prior 370
Cloudy64 (11.8%)
-1.5%prior 65
Clear/Cloudy43 (7.9%)
43.3%prior 30
Rain24 (4.4%)
-17.2%prior 29
Snow23 (4.2%)
-11.5%prior 26
Cloudy/Rain11 (2.0%)
83.3%prior 6
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)8 (1.5%)
60.0%prior 5
Clear/Clear8 (1.5%)
Rain/Cloudy5 (0.9%)
-16.7%prior 6
Snow/Rain3 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight390 (72.1%)
-7.6%prior 422
Dark - lighted roadway71 (13.1%)
-11.3%prior 80
Dark - roadway not lighted46 (8.5%)
70.4%prior 27
Dusk18 (3.3%)
12.5%prior 16
Dawn14 (2.6%)
75.0%prior 8
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.4%)
-60.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry415 (76.9%)
0.0%prior 415
Wet69 (12.8%)
-18.8%prior 85
Snow34 (6.3%)
3.0%prior 33
Ice14 (2.6%)
-12.5%prior 16
Slush7 (1.3%)
40.0%prior 5
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes showed some changes year-over-year. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make but saw its count decrease from 156 to 126. Honda moved from the fifth to the second position with 114 crashes, up from 93 in the prior year. Among persons involved, the 16-20 age group saw an increase in involvement from 102 to 125 individuals, while the 65+ age group saw a decrease from 189 to 156.

Top Vehicle Makes (976 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA126 (12.9%)
-19.2%prior 156
2
HONDA114 (11.7%)
22.6%prior 93
3
FORD110 (11.3%)
-13.4%prior 127
4
CHEVROLET92 (9.4%)
-1.1%prior 93
5
SUBARU86 (8.8%)
-11.3%prior 97
6
JEEP51 (5.2%)
13.3%prior 45
7
NISSAN50 (5.1%)
-26.5%prior 68
8
HYUNDAI41 (4.2%)
-18.0%prior 50
9
KIA29 (3%)
-9.4%prior 32
10
DODGE26 (2.7%)
18.2%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (1,053 persons with recorded sex)

Male585 (55.6%)
3.4%prior 566
Female467 (44.3%)
-4.9%prior 491
X / Unspecified1 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones were the most frequent in both years and saw an increase from 222 to 235 incidents. The prior year recorded two fatal crashes, one in a 40 mph zone and another in a 50 mph zone. In the current year, there were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone. Crashes in 20 mph zones decreased from 118 to 113.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: GARDNER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 545
  • Total persons involved: 1,202
  • Total vehicles involved: 976

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). "GARDNER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/gardner/2025-annual-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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Gardner, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com