Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

29 CRASHES IN
HARWICH, MA
MAY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2024

In May 2025, Harwich experienced 29 total crashes, an increase from 22 crashes reported in May 2024. This represents a 31.8% rise in overall crash incidents year-over-year. The most notable shift was in injuries, which saw a substantial increase from 3 in May 2024 to 10 in May 2025, marking a 233.3% rise.

29

31.8%was 22

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

233.3%was 3

Persons Injured

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 · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends indicate an increase in May 2025 compared to May 2024, with total crashes rising by 31.8% from 22 to 29. Concurrently, total injuries surged by 233.3%, from 3 to 10, suggesting a significant increase in crash severity or impact on individuals.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2025

0.0% vs prior (1)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 1 incident in both May 2024 and May 2025. However, due to the overall increase in total crashes, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 4.5% in May 2024 to 3.4% in May 2025.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3233.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · 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 Thursday with 5 crashes in May 2024 to Tuesday with 7 crashes in May 2025. The peak hour also changed, moving from 12 PM with 3 crashes in May 2024 to 8 AM with 4 crashes in May 2025, indicating a shift in when crashes are most frequent.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either May 2024 or May 2025. However, the number of injured persons increased significantly from 3 in May 2024 to 10 in May 2025. This increase includes a rise in serious injuries from 1 to 2, minor injuries from 0 to 6, and possible injuries from 2 to 1, with the proportion of crashes involving injuries rising from 13.6% to 34.5%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes6.9%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes20.7%
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes3.4%
-50.0%prior 2
No Injury19no injury crashes65.5%
0.0%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes increased from 3 in May 2024 to 7 in May 2025, a 133.3% increase in count. 'Followed too closely' crashes also saw a notable rise, from 1 to 5 incidents, representing a 400% increase in count. Conversely, 'Inattention' related crashes decreased from 3 to 1, a 66.7% decrease in count, and crashes attributed to 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' decreased from 2 to 0.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way7 (24.1%)
Followed too closely5 (17.2%)
No improper driving5 (17.2%)0.0%prior 5
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (6.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (6.9%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (3.4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (3.4%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (3.4%)
Emotional1 (3.4%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring in adverse weather conditions remained relatively stable, with 18.2% in May 2024 and 17.2% in May 2025. However, the proportion of crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 36.4% (8 of 22 crashes) in May 2024 to 27.6% (8 of 29 crashes) in May 2025. Crashes in daylight conditions increased from 17 to 24, while crashes in dark or dawn conditions remained at 5 incidents for both periods.

Weather

Clear15 (51.7%)
36.4%prior 11
Cloudy7 (24.1%)
0.0%prior 7
Clear/Clear2 (6.9%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (6.9%)
Rain2 (6.9%)
Cloudy/Severe crosswinds1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight24 (82.8%)
41.2%prior 17
Dark - lighted roadway4 (13.8%)
Dawn1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry21 (72.4%)
50.0%prior 14
Wet7 (24.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
Water (standing, moving)1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (59 vehicles)

1
FORD13 (22%)
2
TOYOTA8 (13.6%)
14.3%prior 7
3
CHEVROLET6 (10.2%)
4
HONDA6 (10.2%)
5
JEEP5 (8.5%)
0.0%prior 5
6
NISSAN3 (5.1%)
7
SUBARU3 (5.1%)
8
LEXUS2 (3.4%)
9
GMC2 (3.4%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (65 persons with recorded sex)

Male41 (63.1%)
41.4%prior 29
Female24 (36.9%)
20.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 6 in May 2024 to 12 in May 2025, and crashes in 35 mph zones rose from 2 to 5. Conversely, crashes in 40 mph zones decreased from 5 to 3, and in 45 mph zones from 3 to 1. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · 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: 2025-05-01 through 2025-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-05-01 through 2025-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: HARWICH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 29
  • Total persons involved: 69
  • Total vehicles involved: 59

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). "HARWICH, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/harwich/may-2025-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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Harwich, MA Crash Report — May 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com