Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

330 CRASHES IN
GRAFTON, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Grafton recorded 330 total vehicle crashes, a 1.9% increase from the 324 crashes documented in 2023. While overall crash volume remained relatively stable, the most significant change was the reduction in fatalities, with zero deaths reported in 2024 compared to one in the previous year. The total number of injuries saw a slight increase from 84 in 2023 to 88 in 2024.

330

1.9%was 324

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

88

4.8%was 84

Persons Injured

18

5.9%was 17

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Crash trends in Grafton show a slight increase year-over-year. The total number of crashes rose by 1.9%, from 324 in 2023 to 330 in 2024. Similarly, the number of people injured in these incidents increased by 4.8%, from 84 to 88.

18

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

5.9% vs prior (17)

The number of hit-and-run incidents in Grafton remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a slight increase from 17 in 2023 to 18 in 2024. This corresponds to a minor rise in the hit-and-run rate, which edged up from 5.2% to 5.5% of all crashes. The trend indicates that the frequency of drivers leaving the scene of a crash has not significantly changed.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

86

Motorists Injured

Prior: 824.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes in Grafton shifted between 2023 and 2024. The peak day for collisions moved from Wednesday (54 crashes) to Tuesday (64 crashes). A more pronounced change occurred in the peak hour, which shifted from the 4 p.m. hour in 2023 (31 crashes) to the 8 a.m. hour in 2024 (36 crashes), indicating a move from the evening commute to the morning commute as the most frequent time for incidents.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity improved in 2024, with fatal crashes decreasing from one in 2023 to zero. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 76.9% to 79.7% year-over-year. While there were no fatal crashes, the data shows an increase in crashes classified as 'Serious Injury,' rising from zero reported in 2023 to 4 in 2024, representing 1.2% of all crashes in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury4serious injury crashes1.2%
Minor Injury41minor injury crashes12.4%
-10.9%prior 46
Possible Injury17possible injury crashes5.2%
-19.0%prior 21
No Injury263no injury crashes79.7%
5.6%prior 249

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top three contributing factors to crashes in Grafton remained consistent year-over-year: 'No improper driving,' 'Inattention,' and 'Followed too closely.' The count for crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' increased by 14.3%, from 42 to 48 incidents. Crashes involving 'Failed to yield right of way' also saw a notable rise in count from 21 to 29 incidents. Conversely, crashes related to 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased in count by 31.3%, from 16 in 2023 to 11 in 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving73 (22.1%)9.0%prior 67
Inattention54 (16.4%)-3.6%prior 56
Followed too closely48 (14.5%)14.3%prior 42
Failed to yield right of way29 (8.8%)38.1%prior 21
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road24 (7.3%)4.3%prior 23
Distracted14 (4.2%)-12.5%prior 16
Driving too fast for conditions11 (3.3%)-31.3%prior 16
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner11 (3.3%)22.2%prior 9
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway10 (3%)
Fatigued/asleep7 (2.1%)0.0%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

In both periods, the majority of crashes occurred in daylight on dry roads. In 2024, crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 235 to 255, while those on wet surfaces decreased from 63 to 41. However, incidents during snowy conditions saw a significant increase, with crashes in snow weather rising from 8 to 18, and those on snow-covered road surfaces increasing from 12 to 31 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear192 (59.1%)
2.7%prior 187
Clear/Cloudy34 (10.5%)
41.7%prior 24
Cloudy31 (9.5%)
3.3%prior 30
Rain20 (6.2%)
-33.3%prior 30
Snow18 (5.5%)
125.0%prior 8
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)9 (2.8%)
80.0%prior 5
Cloudy/Rain6 (1.8%)
-53.8%prior 13
Cloudy/Snow3 (0.9%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (0.9%)
-62.5%prior 8
Clear/Clear2 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight236 (71.5%)
3.1%prior 229
Dark - lighted roadway47 (14.2%)
11.9%prior 42
Dark - roadway not lighted26 (7.9%)
-10.3%prior 29
Dusk8 (2.4%)
-33.3%prior 12
Dawn7 (2.1%)
-30.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting6 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry255 (77.3%)
8.5%prior 235
Wet41 (12.4%)
-34.9%prior 63
Snow31 (9.4%)
158.3%prior 12
Slush3 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained Toyota, Honda, and Ford in both 2023 and 2024, with all three seeing an increase in total incidents. Toyota involvement rose from 79 to 93 vehicles, Honda from 53 to 61, and Ford from 41 to 58. Analysis of driver and passenger age demographics reveals shifts among different groups; the number of persons aged 45-54 involved in crashes increased from 73 to 96. Conversely, involvement for the 55-64 age group decreased from 86 to 70.

Top Vehicle Makes (589 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA93 (15.8%)
17.7%prior 79
2
HONDA61 (10.4%)
15.1%prior 53
3
FORD58 (9.8%)
41.5%prior 41
4
JEEP40 (6.8%)
48.1%prior 27
5
NISSAN37 (6.3%)
0.0%prior 37
6
CHEVROLET37 (6.3%)
-5.1%prior 39
7
SUBARU25 (4.2%)
-26.5%prior 34
8
GMC22 (3.7%)
175.0%prior 8
9
HYUNDAI20 (3.4%)
-16.7%prior 24
10
KIA16 (2.7%)
-11.1%prior 18

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (636 persons with recorded sex)

Male360 (56.6%)
0.0%prior 360
Female275 (43.2%)
2.6%prior 268
X / Unspecified1 (0.2%)
0.0%prior 1

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones saw some changes between 2023 and 2024. Crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 43 to 59, while incidents in 65 mph zones decreased from 98 to 91. The number of crashes in 30 mph zones remained nearly constant, with 141 incidents in 2024 compared to 143 in the prior year. The single fatality in 2023 occurred in a 65 mph zone; in 2024, there were no fatalities recorded in any speed zone.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: GRAFTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 330
  • Total persons involved: 677
  • Total vehicles involved: 589

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). "GRAFTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/grafton/2024-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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Grafton, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com