Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

85 CRASHES IN
MALDEN, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, MALDEN experienced 85 crashes, an increase of 16.44% compared to the 73 crashes reported in October 2023. A notable shift is the absence of fatalities in October 2024, down from one fatality in the prior year. Total injuries also decreased from 31 to 25.

85

16.4%was 73

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

25

-19.4%was 31

Persons Injured

18

-10.0%was 20

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in MALDEN increased year-over-year, with 85 crashes in October 2024 compared to 73 in October 2023. This represents a 16.44% rise in total crashes. Despite the increase in crash volume, fatalities were eliminated and total injuries saw a decrease.

18

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

-10.0% vs prior (20)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 20 incidents in October 2023 to 18 in October 2024. The hit-and-run rate also trended downwards, falling from 27.4% of all crashes in the prior year to 21.2% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

20

Motorists Injured

Prior: 27-25.9%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 10.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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 Monday in October 2023, with 15 crashes, to Tuesday in October 2024, with 19 crashes. The peak crash hour also changed from 7 PM in October 2023 to 8 AM in October 2024, though both hours recorded 7 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities decreased from 1 in October 2023 to 0 in October 2024, and total injuries also saw a reduction from 31 to 25. While serious injuries increased from 1 to 2, minor injuries rose from 5 to 13, and possible injuries decreased significantly from 16 to 5.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.4%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury13minor injury crashes15.3%
160.0%prior 5
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes5.9%
-68.8%prior 16
No Injury53no injury crashes62.4%
32.5%prior 40

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' increased by 5 crashes, from 28 in October 2023 to 33 in October 2024. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' rose by 2, from 5 to 7. 'Followed too closely' crashes doubled from 1 to 2, while 'Glare' crashes decreased by 1, from 2 to 1.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving33 (38.8%)17.9%prior 28
Inattention7 (8.2%)40.0%prior 5
Failed to yield right of way4 (4.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (2.4%)
Followed too closely2 (2.4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.4%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (1.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (1.2%)
Distracted1 (1.2%)
Other improper action1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 49 in October 2023 to 70 in October 2024. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 54 to 71 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes occurring during daylight hours slightly decreased from 54.8% to 50.6%.

Weather

Clear58 (74.4%)
45.0%prior 40
Clear/Clear12 (15.4%)
33.3%prior 9
Cloudy3 (3.8%)
-50.0%prior 6
Unknown/Unknown2 (2.6%)
Rain1 (1.3%)
-87.5%prior 8
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (1.3%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight43 (55.8%)
7.5%prior 40
Dark - lighted roadway24 (31.2%)
-7.7%prior 26
Dusk4 (5.2%)
Dawn3 (3.9%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.3%)
Other1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry71 (95.9%)
31.5%prior 54
Wet3 (4.1%)
-81.3%prior 16

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 23.02%, from 139 in October 2023 to 171 in October 2024. The 26-34 age group saw the largest increase in persons involved, rising from 35 to 52. While Toyota and Honda remained top vehicle makes, Ford saw a significant increase in representation, from 10 vehicles to 21.

Top Vehicle Makes (171 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA30 (17.5%)
-11.8%prior 34
2
HONDA24 (14%)
-7.7%prior 26
3
FORD21 (12.3%)
110.0%prior 10
4
NISSAN13 (7.6%)
5
CHEVROLET10 (5.8%)
0.0%prior 10
6
JEEP7 (4.1%)
7
SUBARU7 (4.1%)
-22.2%prior 9
8
HYUNDAI7 (4.1%)
9
KIA6 (3.5%)
10
GMC5 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (178 persons with recorded sex)

Male112 (62.9%)
34.9%prior 83
Female66 (37.1%)
11.9%prior 59

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The majority of crashes in both periods occurred in 25 mph zones, increasing from 58 crashes in October 2023 to 70 crashes in October 2024. Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 5 to 6, and in 35 mph zones from 1 to 2. Notably, the single fatal crash in October 2023 occurred in a 25 mph zone, with no fatalities reported in any speed zone in October 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: MALDEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 85
  • Total persons involved: 215
  • Total vehicles involved: 171

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: October 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/malden/october-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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Malden, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com