Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

58 CRASHES IN
LUDLOW, MA
SEPTEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2024

In September 2025, Ludlow experienced 58 total crashes, a notable increase from the 35 crashes recorded in September 2024. This represents a 65.7% rise in total crash incidents year-over-year. The most significant shift was the overall increase in crash volume.

58

65.7%was 35

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

13

Persons Injured

1

-75.0%was 4

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 · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Total crashes in Ludlow increased by 65.7% year-over-year, rising from 35 incidents in September 2024 to 58 in September 2025. Despite this increase in crash volume, the total number of injuries remained stable at 13 for both periods, and no fatalities were reported in either month.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2025

-75.0% vs prior (4)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased significantly year-over-year, falling from 4 incidents in September 2024 to 1 incident in September 2025. The hit-and-run rate also saw a substantial decline, dropping from 11.4% to 1.7% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 130.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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 Monday in September 2024, with 8 incidents, to Tuesday in September 2025, which saw 17 crashes. The peak hour also changed, moving from 5 PM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 11 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero for both September 2024 and September 2025. While the total number of injuries was consistent at 13 in both periods, the distribution of injury severity changed; serious injuries decreased from 2 to 1, minor injuries decreased from 6 to 5, and possible injuries increased from 1 to 3.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.7%
-50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes8.6%
-16.7%prior 6
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes5.2%
200.0%prior 1
No Injury48no injury crashes82.8%
108.7%prior 23

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Inattention remained the leading contributing factor, increasing from 10 crashes in September 2024 to 22 crashes in September 2025, representing a 120% increase in count. Crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' also saw a notable increase, rising from 1 to 5 incidents year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention22 (37.9%)120.0%prior 10
No improper driving7 (12.1%)-12.5%prior 8
Failed to yield right of way5 (8.6%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road4 (6.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (6.9%)
Distracted3 (5.2%)
Other improper action3 (5.2%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (3.4%)
Followed too closely2 (3.4%)
Physical impairment1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 26 in September 2024 to 41 in September 2025. Similarly, crashes during 'Daylight' conditions rose from 26 to 49 over the same period. Data for road surface conditions was not available for the prior period, preventing a year-over-year comparison for that category.

Weather

Clear41 (70.7%)
57.7%prior 26
Clear/Cloudy5 (8.6%)
Clear/Clear3 (5.2%)
Cloudy2 (3.4%)
Clear/Other2 (3.4%)
Rain2 (3.4%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds1 (1.7%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.7%)
Cloudy/Other1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight49 (84.5%)
88.5%prior 26
Dark - lighted roadway7 (12.1%)
40.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.7%)
Dawn1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry52 (89.7%)
Wet5 (8.6%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 61 in September 2024 to 113 in September 2025. Toyota remained the top make involved, increasing from 8 to 13 vehicles, while Honda and Nissan also saw increases in involvement, rising from 5 to 10 and 4 to 8 vehicles respectively.

Top Vehicle Makes (113 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (11.5%)
62.5%prior 8
2
HONDA10 (8.8%)
100.0%prior 5
3
NISSAN8 (7.1%)
4
FORD8 (7.1%)
5
CHEVROLET7 (6.2%)
16.7%prior 6
6
SUBARU7 (6.2%)
7
HYUNDAI6 (5.3%)
8
JEEP5 (4.4%)
9
RAM4 (3.5%)
10
BUIC3 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (125 persons with recorded sex)

Male71 (56.8%)
115.2%prior 33
Female54 (43.2%)
86.2%prior 29

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones saw a substantial increase, rising from 4 in September 2024 to 19 in September 2025. Conversely, crashes in 65 mph zones decreased from 9 to 3 incidents year-over-year. Crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 9 to 12, and 35 mph zones from 7 to 14.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: LUDLOW, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 58
  • Total persons involved: 136
  • Total vehicles involved: 113

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). "LUDLOW, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/ludlow/september-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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Ludlow, MA Crash Report — September 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com