Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

304 CRASHES IN
GRAFTON, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In 2025, Grafton recorded 304 total traffic crashes, a 7.9% decrease from the 330 crashes documented in 2024. Despite the overall reduction in collisions, the most significant year-over-year change was the occurrence of 3 fatal crashes resulting in 3 fatalities in 2025, whereas no fatal crashes were reported in the prior year.

304

-7.9%was 330

Total Crash Events

3

Persons Killed

77

-12.5%was 88

Persons Injured

22

22.2%was 18

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (3) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 8 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 traffic safety trends in Grafton show a year-over-year decrease in total collisions. Crashes fell by 7.9%, from 330 in 2024 to 304 in 2025. Similarly, the total number of injuries declined from 88 to 77. However, this period also saw the introduction of 3 fatalities, a stark contrast to the zero fatalities recorded in the previous year.

22

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

22.2% vs prior (18)

Hit-and-run incidents in Grafton showed an upward trend in 2025 compared to the previous year. The total number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 18 in 2024 to 22 in 2025, a 22.2% increase in count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate, as a percentage of all crashes, also rose from 5.5% in 2024 to 7.2% in 2025.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

76

Motorists Injured

Prior: 86-11.6%

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 temporal patterns of crashes in Grafton shifted between 2024 and 2025. The peak day for collisions moved from Tuesday (64 crashes) in 2024 to Thursday (49 crashes) in 2025. A more pronounced change occurred in the peak hour, which shifted from the morning commute at 8 a.m. (36 crashes) in the prior year to the evening commute at 5 p.m. (28 crashes) in the current year.

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 worsened in 2025 compared to 2024, despite a lower total crash volume. In 2025, there were 3 fatal crashes, accounting for 1.0% of all incidents, up from zero fatal crashes in the prior year. The number of serious injury crashes also doubled from 4 in 2024 to 8 in 2025, increasing their share of total crashes from 1.2% to 2.6%. The proportion of crashes resulting in any form of injury (fatal, serious, minor, or possible) increased from 18.8% in 2024 to 22.0% in 2025.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal3fatal crashes1%
Serious Injury8serious injury crashes2.6%
100.0%prior 4
Minor Injury40minor injury crashes13.2%
-2.4%prior 41
Possible Injury16possible injury crashes5.3%
-5.9%prior 17
No Injury229no injury crashes75.3%
-12.9%prior 263

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

The leading contributing factors for crashes in Grafton remained consistent year-over-year, though their counts shifted. 'No improper driving' was the most cited factor in both periods, with its count decreasing from 73 in 2024 to 69 in 2025. 'Inattention' remained the second-most common factor, with its count increasing from 54 to 58. Notably, crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' decreased by 39.6% in count, from 48 incidents in 2024 to 29 in 2025, while still ranking as a top three factor.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving69 (22.7%)-5.5%prior 73
Inattention58 (19.1%)7.4%prior 54
Followed too closely29 (9.5%)-39.6%prior 48
Failed to yield right of way23 (7.6%)-20.7%prior 29
Distracted17 (5.6%)21.4%prior 14
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road16 (5.3%)-33.3%prior 24
Driving too fast for conditions12 (3.9%)9.1%prior 11
Other improper action10 (3.3%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway8 (2.6%)-20.0%prior 10
Visibility obstructed7 (2.3%)0.0%prior 7

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

Crash conditions remained broadly similar between 2024 and 2025. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight was stable at approximately 71% in both years. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces accounted for 77.3% of incidents in 2024 and 75.3% in 2025. There was a slight decrease in the share of crashes occurring during adverse weather conditions like rain or snow, which fell from 20.0% of all crashes in 2024 to 16.8% in 2025.

Weather

Clear167 (55.1%)
-13.0%prior 192
Cloudy28 (9.2%)
-9.7%prior 31
Clear/Clear26 (8.6%)
Clear/Cloudy19 (6.3%)
-44.1%prior 34
Cloudy/Rain12 (4.0%)
100.0%prior 6
Rain11 (3.6%)
-45.0%prior 20
Snow9 (3.0%)
-50.0%prior 18
Rain/Cloudy5 (1.7%)
Clear/Other4 (1.3%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)4 (1.3%)
-55.6%prior 9

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

Lighting

Daylight217 (71.6%)
-8.1%prior 236
Dark - lighted roadway43 (14.2%)
-8.5%prior 47
Dark - roadway not lighted23 (7.6%)
-11.5%prior 26
Dusk11 (3.6%)
37.5%prior 8
Dawn8 (2.6%)
14.3%prior 7
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.3%)
-83.3%prior 6

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

Road Surface

Dry229 (75.8%)
-10.2%prior 255
Wet50 (16.6%)
22.0%prior 41
Snow16 (5.3%)
-48.4%prior 31
Ice5 (1.7%)
Slush2 (0.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The vehicle makes most frequently involved in crashes were consistent year-over-year, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford ranking as the top three in both 2024 and 2025. The number of vehicles from these top makes involved in crashes saw a general decrease, with Toyota-involved incidents dropping from 93 to 72. Analysis of the age of persons involved in crashes shows a shift: the proportion of individuals aged 16-20 decreased from 12.4% in 2024 to 8.5% in 2025, while the share of those aged 26-34 increased from 14.3% to 17.7%.

Top Vehicle Makes (552 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA72 (13%)
-22.6%prior 93
2
HONDA59 (10.7%)
-3.3%prior 61
3
FORD53 (9.6%)
-8.6%prior 58
4
CHEVROLET47 (8.5%)
27.0%prior 37
5
NISSAN31 (5.6%)
-16.2%prior 37
6
JEEP28 (5.1%)
-30.0%prior 40
7
SUBARU25 (4.5%)
0.0%prior 25
8
GMC21 (3.8%)
-4.5%prior 22
9
MAZDA15 (2.7%)
200.0%prior 5
10
KIA14 (2.5%)
-12.5%prior 16

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

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

Sex Distribution (573 persons with recorded sex)

Male351 (61.3%)
-2.5%prior 360
Female222 (38.7%)
-19.3%prior 275

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

The distribution of crashes across different speed zones remained largely consistent year-over-year. The 30 mph zone continued to be the most common location for crashes, accounting for 44.2% of incidents in 2025, nearly unchanged from 43.8% in 2024. Crashes in the 65 mph zone saw a slight proportional decrease, from 28.3% of the total in 2024 to 25.2% in 2025. A significant change was the appearance of fatal crashes in 2025, with one fatality occurring in each of the 30 mph, 35 mph, and 65 mph zones, where none were recorded in the previous year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 130 (0.769%) · 35 mph: 1 of 51 (1.961%) · 65 mph: 1 of 74 (1.351%)

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: GRAFTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 304
  • Total persons involved: 632
  • Total vehicles involved: 552

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: 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/grafton/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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Grafton, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com