Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

241 CRASHES IN
LOWELL, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Lowell, MA experienced 241 crashes, a significant increase from the 171 crashes reported in March 2023. This represents a 40.94% rise in total crashes year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 600% increase in serious injury crashes, rising from 1 in the prior period to 7 in the current period.

241

40.9%was 171

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

91

71.7%was 53

Persons Injured

26

-3.7%was 27

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for March 2024 in Lowell, MA shows a concerning upward trend compared to the same month last year. Total crashes increased by 70, representing a 40.94% rise. This indicates a substantial increase in crash incidents year-over-year.

26

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2024

-3.7% vs prior (27)

The number of hit-and-run crashes slightly decreased from 27 in March 2023 to 26 in March 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate declined by 5 percentage points, from 15.8% in the prior period to 10.8% in the current period, indicating a downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 2200.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

82

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5064.0%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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 in March 2023, which saw 33 incidents, to Friday in March 2024, which recorded 46 incidents. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4 PM with 20 crashes in the prior period to 3 PM with 25 crashes in the current period, indicating a slight shift in daily crash patterns.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While there were no fatalities in either period, total injuries increased significantly by 71.7%, from 53 in March 2023 to 91 in March 2024. Serious injury crashes saw a 600% increase, rising from 1 (0.6% of total crashes) to 7 (2.9% of total crashes) year-over-year. Minor and possible injury crashes also doubled, each increasing from 16 to 33 and 16 to 32 respectively.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury7serious injury crashes2.9%
600.0%prior 1
Minor Injury33minor injury crashes13.7%
106.3%prior 16
Possible Injury32possible injury crashes13.3%
100.0%prior 16
No Injury160no injury crashes66.4%
42.9%prior 112

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw notable increases in crash counts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' rose from 48 to 74, a 54.17% increase. 'Failed to yield right of way' increased from 15 to 21 crashes (a 40% rise), and 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' more than doubled from 3 to 9 crashes (a 200% increase). Conversely, 'Followed too closely' saw a slight decrease from 9 to 8 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving74 (30.7%)54.2%prior 48
Failed to yield right of way21 (8.7%)40.0%prior 15
Inattention14 (5.8%)0.0%prior 14
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road10 (4.1%)100.0%prior 5
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings9 (3.7%)
Followed too closely8 (3.3%)-11.1%prior 9
Distracted4 (1.7%)
Made an improper turn4 (1.7%)
Other improper action4 (1.7%)
Over-correcting/over-steering3 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 135 to 169, while crashes in 'Rain' conditions surged from 6 to 33. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 138 to 187, and on 'Wet' surfaces from 19 to 50. Conversely, crashes in 'Snow' conditions decreased from 9 to 1, and on 'Snow' road surfaces from 10 to 1, indicating a shift away from snow-related incidents.

Weather

Clear169 (71.0%)
25.2%prior 135
Rain33 (13.9%)
450.0%prior 6
Cloudy23 (9.7%)
91.7%prior 12
Cloudy/Rain5 (2.1%)
Rain/Cloudy5 (2.1%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.4%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.4%)
Snow1 (0.4%)
-88.9%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight169 (70.1%)
36.3%prior 124
Dark - lighted roadway57 (23.7%)
54.1%prior 37
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (2.1%)
Dawn5 (2.1%)
Dusk5 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry187 (78.2%)
35.5%prior 138
Wet50 (20.9%)
163.2%prior 19
Slush1 (0.4%)
Snow1 (0.4%)
-90.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 37.35%, from 332 in March 2023 to 456 in March 2024. Toyota vehicles involved in crashes increased from 47 to 91, making it the most common make in the current period, while Honda, previously the most common, increased from 59 to 80. All age groups saw an increase in persons involved in crashes, with the 0-15 age group seeing a 200% rise from 13 to 39 persons, and the 55-64 age group increasing by 140.9% from 22 to 53 persons.

Top Vehicle Makes (456 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA91 (20%)
93.6%prior 47
2
HONDA80 (17.5%)
35.6%prior 59
3
FORD42 (9.2%)
27.3%prior 33
4
CHEVROLET36 (7.9%)
50.0%prior 24
5
NISSAN21 (4.6%)
-8.7%prior 23
6
SUBARU21 (4.6%)
133.3%prior 9
7
JEEP16 (3.5%)
-5.9%prior 17
8
HYUNDAI16 (3.5%)
45.5%prior 11
9
ACURA14 (3.1%)
40.0%prior 10
10
KIA9 (2%)
28.6%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (549 persons with recorded sex)

Male330 (60.1%)
65.0%prior 200
Female219 (39.9%)
58.7%prior 138

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones shifted, with crashes in 25 mph zones increasing dramatically from 29 in March 2023 to 123 in March 2024, a 324.1% rise. Meanwhile, crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 93 to 77, a 17.2% reduction. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed limit zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: LOWELL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 241
  • Total persons involved: 617
  • Total vehicles involved: 456

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). "LOWELL, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/lowell/march-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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Lowell, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com