Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

12 CRASHES IN
LANCASTER, MA
JULY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2023

In Lancaster, July 2024 saw a substantial decrease in total crashes compared to July 2023, falling from 24 to 12 crashes, representing a 50% reduction. This period also experienced a significant decline in total injuries, which decreased by 70.6% from 17 to 5 injuries.

12

-50.0%was 24

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

5

-70.6%was 17

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend for July in Lancaster indicates a significant decrease in crash activity year-over-year. Total crashes fell by 50%, from 24 in July 2023 to 12 in July 2024, alongside a 70.6% reduction in total injuries.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 17-70.6%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. In July 2023, Monday was the peak day with 6 crashes, while in July 2024, Tuesday became the peak day with 5 crashes. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4 PM with 3 crashes in July 2023 to 11 AM with 2 crashes in July 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either July 2023 or July 2024. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Minor or Possible) decreased from 45.8% (11 out of 24 crashes) in July 2023 to 33.3% (4 out of 12 crashes) in July 2024. Conversely, crashes with no injuries increased their share from 54.2% to 66.7% of all crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes25%
-70.0%prior 10
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes8.3%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury8no injury crashes66.7%
-38.5%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Comparing contributing factors, 'Failed to yield right of way' increased from 3 crashes in July 2023 to 5 crashes in July 2024, representing a 66.7% increase, and became the most frequent factor in the current period. Conversely, 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased from 3 crashes to 1 crash, a 66.7% reduction, and 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' decreased from 3 crashes to 2 crashes, a 33.3% reduction. The factor 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' was reported in 2 crashes in July 2023 but was not present in July 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way5 (41.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (16.7%)
Followed too closely2 (16.7%)
Distracted1 (8.3%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (8.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (8.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (23 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA5 (21.7%)
-28.6%prior 7
2
HONDA4 (17.4%)
3
CHEVROLET3 (13%)
-40.0%prior 5
4
FORD2 (8.7%)
-75.0%prior 8
5
SUBARU2 (8.7%)
-60.0%prior 5
6
MAZDA1 (4.3%)
7
ACURA1 (4.3%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN1 (4.3%)
9
FRHT1 (4.3%)
10
GRUM1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (23 persons with recorded sex)

Male12 (52.2%)
-67.6%prior 37
Female11 (47.8%)
-45.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone saw the largest numerical decrease, falling from 8 crashes in July 2023 to 4 crashes in July 2024. Crashes in the 55 mph zone also decreased from 3 to 2, and the 40 mph zone from 3 to 2. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed limit zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · 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: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: LANCASTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 12
  • Total persons involved: 24
  • Total vehicles involved: 23

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). "LANCASTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/lancaster/july-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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Lancaster, MA Crash Report — July 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com