Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

84 CRASHES IN
MEDFORD, MA
APRIL 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2025

In April 2026, Medford experienced 84 crashes, an 18.3% increase compared to 71 crashes in April 2025. A notable positive shift was the reduction in total fatalities from 1 in April 2025 to 0 in April 2026. However, hit-and-run incidents saw a significant rise, increasing by 42.9% year-over-year.

84

18.3%was 71

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

11

-35.3%was 17

Persons Injured

20

42.9%was 14

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 · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Medford showed an upward trend, with total incidents increasing from 71 in April 2025 to 84 in April 2026, representing an 18.3% rise. Conversely, total injuries decreased by 35.3%, from 17 to 11, and fatalities were eliminated, dropping from 1 to 0 year-over-year.

20

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2026

42.9% vs prior (14)

Hit-and-run crashes saw an increase year-over-year, rising from 14 incidents in April 2025 to 20 incidents in April 2026, a 42.9% increase in count. This led to an increase in the hit-and-run rate from 19.7% to 23.8% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 16-31.3%

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 temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. In April 2026, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 16 incidents, a change from Tuesday with 15 incidents in April 2025. The peak crash hour also shifted, with 6 PM recording 8 crashes in the current period, compared to 2 PM with 9 crashes in the prior period.

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

The severity profile of crashes saw a positive change, with no fatal crashes reported in April 2026, down from 1 fatal crash in April 2025. Total injuries decreased from 17 to 11. While minor injury crashes increased slightly from 8 to 9, possible injury crashes decreased from 3 to 2, and the proportion of no-injury crashes rose from 70.4% to 76.2%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury9minor injury crashes10.7%
12.5%prior 8
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes2.4%
-33.3%prior 3
No Injury64no injury crashes76.2%
28.0%prior 50

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

Among contributing factors, 'No improper driving' increased by 52.9% in count, rising from 17 to 26 incidents. 'Inattention' also increased by 20% in count, from 10 to 12 incidents, while 'Failed to yield right of way' increased by 42.9% in count, from 7 to 10 incidents. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' decreased by 57.1% in count, from 7 to 3 incidents, indicating a shift in the prevalence of specific driver behaviors.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving26 (31%)52.9%prior 17
Inattention12 (14.3%)20.0%prior 10
Failed to yield right of way10 (11.9%)42.9%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (6%)-16.7%prior 6
Followed too closely3 (3.6%)-57.1%prior 7
Other improper action3 (3.6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (2.4%)
Distracted2 (2.4%)
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 · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 38 to 47, while those in 'Rain' decreased from 12 to 6. Similarly, crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased from 53 to 65, whereas 'Wet' road surface incidents decreased from 18 to 13. A single crash on a 'Snow' surface was recorded in April 2026, which was not present in the prior period.

Weather

Clear47 (57.3%)
23.7%prior 38
Clear/Clear9 (11.0%)
-10.0%prior 10
Cloudy7 (8.5%)
Rain6 (7.3%)
-50.0%prior 12
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (3.7%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (3.7%)
Unknown/Unknown2 (2.4%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (2.4%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Unknown1 (1.2%)
Other1 (1.2%)

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

Lighting

Daylight62 (78.5%)
5.1%prior 59
Dark - lighted roadway12 (15.2%)
33.3%prior 9
Dawn3 (3.8%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.3%)
Other1 (1.3%)

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

Road Surface

Dry65 (82.3%)
22.6%prior 53
Wet13 (16.5%)
-27.8%prior 18
Snow1 (1.3%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 15.6%, from 147 to 170. The age group 65+ saw a substantial increase in person involvement, rising from 12 to 25 individuals. Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, increasing from 30 to 36, and Honda moved up in ranking, with its involvement count doubling from 13 to 26.

Top Vehicle Makes (170 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA36 (21.2%)
20.0%prior 30
2
HONDA26 (15.3%)
100.0%prior 13
3
FORD15 (8.8%)
0.0%prior 15
4
NISSAN15 (8.8%)
150.0%prior 6
5
JEEP6 (3.5%)
0.0%prior 6
6
CHEVROLET6 (3.5%)
-53.8%prior 13
7
SUBARU5 (2.9%)
-44.4%prior 9
8
HYUNDAI5 (2.9%)
9
MAZDA4 (2.4%)
10
LEXUS4 (2.4%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (176 persons with recorded sex)

Male95 (54.0%)
13.1%prior 84
Female81 (46.0%)
35.0%prior 60

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 zones increased significantly from 44 to 71 incidents year-over-year. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 12 to 3, and those in 55 mph zones dropped from 6 to 2. Notably, the single fatal crash in the prior period occurred in a 65 mph zone, while no fatal crashes were recorded across any speed zone in the current period.

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: MEDFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 84
  • Total persons involved: 211
  • Total vehicles involved: 170

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). "MEDFORD, 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/medford/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

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