Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

81 CRASHES IN
MALDEN, MA
SEPTEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2023

In September 2024, Malden experienced 81 crashes, an increase from 64 crashes in September 2023, representing a 26.6% rise. Total injuries saw a significant increase, rising from 19 in the prior period to 31 in the current period, marking a 63.2% increase. This substantial rise in injuries is the most notable year-over-year shift.

81

26.6%was 64

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

31

63.2%was 19

Persons Injured

26

-7.1%was 28

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 · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates an increase in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 64 to 81. This represents a 26.6% increase in crashes from September 2023 to September 2024. Concurrently, total injuries increased by 63.2%, from 19 to 31, suggesting a worsening outcome per crash.

26

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2024

-7.1% vs prior (28)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased slightly from 28 in September 2023 to 26 in September 2024. The hit-and-run rate saw a more significant decrease, falling from 43.8% in the prior period to 32.1% in the current period. This indicates a downward trend in the proportion of crashes involving a hit-and-run incident.

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%

7

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 540.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

20

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1353.8%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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 with 12 crashes in September 2023 to Sunday with 17 crashes in September 2024. The peak hour for crashes remained consistently at 3 p.m. in both periods, with crash counts increasing from 8 to 10 during this hour. This indicates a shift in peak crash activity towards weekends.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at 0 in both September 2023 and September 2024. However, serious injury crashes increased from 2 to 5, and minor injury crashes rose from 3 to 15. The proportion of serious injury crashes doubled from 3.1% to 6.2% of total crashes, while minor injury crashes significantly increased their share from 4.7% to 18.5%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury5serious injury crashes6.2%
150.0%prior 2
Minor Injury15minor injury crashes18.5%
400.0%prior 3
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes11.1%
-10.0%prior 10
No Injury43no injury crashes53.1%
43.3%prior 30

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased from 20 in the prior period to 33 in the current period, with its share of total crashes rising from 31.3% to 40.7%. 'Inattention' also saw an increase in crash count, moving from 3 to 5. 'Failed to yield right of way' emerged as a factor in 2 crashes in the current period, whereas 'Driving too fast for conditions' accounted for 2 crashes in the prior period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving33 (40.7%)65.0%prior 20
Inattention5 (6.2%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (2.5%)
Other improper action2 (2.5%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.2%)
Followed too closely1 (1.2%)
Glare1 (1.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (1.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 41 to 64, while crashes in rainy or cloudy conditions remained stable at 17 for both periods. Daylight crashes increased significantly from 30 to 49, whereas crashes in dark-lighted roadway conditions slightly decreased from 22 to 19. Crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 45 to 64, while those on wet surfaces decreased from 14 to 12.

Weather

Clear47 (61.0%)
46.9%prior 32
Clear/Clear11 (14.3%)
22.2%prior 9
Rain8 (10.4%)
0.0%prior 8
Cloudy6 (7.8%)
-14.3%prior 7
Rain/Cloudy2 (2.6%)
Unknown/Unknown1 (1.3%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (1.3%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight49 (65.3%)
63.3%prior 30
Dark - lighted roadway19 (25.3%)
-13.6%prior 22
Dusk3 (4.0%)
-40.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (2.7%)
Dawn2 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry64 (84.2%)
42.2%prior 45
Wet12 (15.8%)
-14.3%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The ranking of top vehicle makes involved in crashes shifted year-over-year. Toyota, which was the most frequent make in September 2023 with 29 vehicles, saw its count decrease to 22, moving to second place. Honda experienced a notable increase, from 13 vehicles to 26, becoming the most frequent make in September 2024. The 35-44 age group saw a significant increase in persons involved, rising from 18 to 32.

Top Vehicle Makes (145 vehicles)

1
HONDA26 (17.9%)
100.0%prior 13
2
TOYOTA22 (15.2%)
-24.1%prior 29
3
FORD11 (7.6%)
-15.4%prior 13
4
MERCEDES-BENZ10 (6.9%)
5
CHEVROLET10 (6.9%)
11.1%prior 9
6
LEXUS8 (5.5%)
7
SUBARU5 (3.4%)
8
VOLVO5 (3.4%)
9
NISSAN5 (3.4%)
0.0%prior 5
10
KIA4 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (142 persons with recorded sex)

Male90 (63.4%)
57.9%prior 57
Female52 (36.6%)
23.8%prior 42

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones increased from 48 in the prior period to 64 in the current period, remaining the most frequent speed zone for crashes. Conversely, crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 10 to 6. Crashes in 20 mph zones increased from 4 to 7, while fatal rates remained at 0 in all speed zones for both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: MALDEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 81
  • Total persons involved: 184
  • Total vehicles involved: 145

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: September 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/malden/september-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 — September 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com