Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

63 CRASHES IN
MALDEN, MA
APRIL 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2025

In April 2026, MALDEN, MA recorded 63 total crashes, a decrease from 76 crashes in April 2025, representing a 17.1% reduction year-over-year. This period saw a notable increase in the hit-and-run crash rate, rising from 25% to 33.3%. Total fatalities remained at zero for both periods.

63

-17.1%was 76

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

24

-4.0%was 25

Persons Injured

21

10.5%was 19

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a decrease in total crashes in MALDEN, MA, falling from 76 in April 2025 to 63 in April 2026. This represents a 17.1% reduction in crashes year-over-year. Fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

21

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2026

10.5% vs prior (19)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 19 in April 2025 to 21 in April 2026. The hit-and-run rate also increased from 25% of total crashes in April 2025 to 33.3% in April 2026, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-66.7%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 30.0%

20

Motorists Injured

Prior: 195.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · 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 Friday with 16 crashes in April 2025 to Monday and Sunday, both with 12 crashes, in April 2026. The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 5 PM with 9 crashes in April 2025 to 12 PM with 6 crashes in April 2026.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero in both April 2025 and April 2026. Total injuries decreased slightly from 25 in April 2025 to 24 in April 2026. The proportion of serious injury crashes increased from 1.3% (1 crash) in April 2025 to 1.6% (1 crash) in April 2026, while minor injury crashes increased from 17.1% (13 crashes) to 22.2% (14 crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.6%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury14minor injury crashes22.2%
7.7%prior 13
Possible Injury8possible injury crashes12.7%
14.3%prior 7
No Injury24no injury crashes38.1%
-38.5%prior 39

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

No improper driving remained the most frequently cited contributing factor, decreasing from 26 crashes in April 2025 to 21 crashes in April 2026. Inattention crashes increased from 5 to 8 year-over-year, while Followed too closely and Other improper action remained stable at 2 crashes each. The factor Failed to yield right of way, which accounted for 1 crash in April 2025, was not present in the top factors for April 2026.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving21 (33.3%)-19.2%prior 26
Inattention8 (12.7%)60.0%prior 5
Followed too closely2 (3.2%)
Other improper action2 (3.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.6%)
Glare1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear or clear/clear weather conditions decreased from 51 in April 2025 to 43 in April 2026, while rain-related crashes decreased from 9 to 6. The number of crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 57 to 48, and wet road surface crashes decreased from 14 to 9. Daylight conditions accounted for 48 crashes in April 2025, decreasing to 35 in April 2026.

Weather

Clear35 (62.5%)
-18.6%prior 43
Clear/Clear8 (14.3%)
0.0%prior 8
Rain5 (8.9%)
-28.6%prior 7
Cloudy2 (3.6%)
-71.4%prior 7
Rain/Rain1 (1.8%)
Unknown/Unknown1 (1.8%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.8%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.8%)
Cloudy/Unknown1 (1.8%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight35 (61.4%)
-27.1%prior 48
Dark - lighted roadway17 (29.8%)
21.4%prior 14
Dusk3 (5.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (3.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry48 (84.2%)
-15.8%prior 57
Wet9 (15.8%)
-35.7%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota was the top vehicle make involved in crashes in April 2025 with 25 instances, but Honda became the top make in April 2026 with 20 instances, while Toyota decreased to 11. The 16-20 age group saw a decrease in persons involved from 16 to 9, while the 0-15 age group increased from 5 to 7.

Top Vehicle Makes (117 vehicles)

1
HONDA20 (17.1%)
-9.1%prior 22
2
TOYOTA11 (9.4%)
-56.0%prior 25
3
FORD9 (7.7%)
-50.0%prior 18
4
NISSAN8 (6.8%)
-20.0%prior 10
5
JEEP7 (6%)
6
CHEVROLET6 (5.1%)
-33.3%prior 9
7
MERCEDES-BENZ6 (5.1%)
0.0%prior 6
8
SUBARU6 (5.1%)
-14.3%prior 7
9
VOLKSWAGEN6 (5.1%)
10
AUDI4 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (103 persons with recorded sex)

Male65 (63.1%)
-13.3%prior 75
Female38 (36.9%)
-26.9%prior 52

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed limit zones decreased from 63 in April 2025 to 48 in April 2026. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed limit zone in either period. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 6 to 3, while crashes in 10 mph zones increased from 2 to 3.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · 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: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: MALDEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 63
  • Total persons involved: 138
  • Total vehicles involved: 117

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). "MALDEN, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/malden/april-2026-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Malden, MA Crash Report — April 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com