Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

30 CRASHES IN
MELROSE, MA
AUGUST 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2024

In August 2025, Melrose experienced 30 total crashes, a decrease of 21.1% compared to the 38 crashes recorded in August 2024. Total injuries also decreased from 9 to 7 year-over-year. A notable shift is the absence of pedestrian crashes in the current period, down from 2 in the prior year.

30

-21.1%was 38

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

7

-22.2%was 9

Persons Injured

4

-33.3%was 6

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 · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Melrose showed a downward trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 8 incidents, from 38 in August 2024 to 30 in August 2025. Similarly, total injuries declined from 9 to 7 over the same period, while fatalities remained at 0.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2025

-33.3% vs prior (6)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 6 incidents in August 2024 to 4 incidents in August 2025, marking a 33.3% reduction in count. The hit-and-run rate also saw a decline, decreasing from 15.8% of all crashes in the prior period to 13.3% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 520.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns for crashes in Melrose showed some shifts year-over-year. While Friday remained the peak day for crashes with 7 incidents in both periods, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 12 p.m. with 5 incidents in August 2024 to 3 p.m. with 6 incidents in August 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity distribution of crashes remained stable regarding fatalities, with 0 fatal crashes in both August 2024 and August 2025. Minor injury crashes decreased from 6 to 5, though their proportion of total crashes slightly increased from 15.8% to 16.7%. Possible injury crashes also decreased from 2 (5.3% of total) to 1 (3.3% of total) year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury5minor injury crashes16.7%
-16.7%prior 6
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes3.3%
-50.0%prior 2
No Injury23no injury crashes76.7%
-20.7%prior 29

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'No improper driving' decreased significantly from 14 crashes in August 2024 to 8 crashes in August 2025, representing a 42.9% reduction in count. 'Inattention' crashes increased from 3 to 4, a 33.3% increase in count. 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' was a factor in 5 crashes in the prior period but was not among the listed factors in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving8 (26.7%)-42.9%prior 14
Inattention4 (13.3%)
Distracted2 (6.7%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (6.7%)
Glare1 (3.3%)
Followed too closely1 (3.3%)
Made an improper turn1 (3.3%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (3.3%)
Operating defective equipment1 (3.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 26 in August 2024 to 21 in August 2025. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces also saw a reduction from 35 to 26. Conversely, crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces increased from 2 incidents (5.3% of total) to 3 incidents (10% of total), indicating a slight increase in the proportion of crashes under wet conditions.

Weather

Clear21 (70.0%)
-19.2%prior 26
Cloudy3 (10.0%)
Clear/Other2 (6.7%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (3.3%)
Clear/Unknown1 (3.3%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (3.3%)
-80.0%prior 5
Rain1 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight26 (89.7%)
-13.3%prior 30
Dark - lighted roadway2 (6.9%)
-60.0%prior 5
Dusk1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry26 (89.7%)
-25.7%prior 35
Wet3 (10.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (49 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA8 (16.3%)
0.0%prior 8
2
HONDA7 (14.3%)
-36.4%prior 11
3
JEEP5 (10.2%)
4
SUBARU4 (8.2%)
5
FORD3 (6.1%)
-62.5%prior 8
6
VOLKSWAGEN2 (4.1%)
7
CHEVROLET2 (4.1%)
8
HYUNDAI2 (4.1%)
-60.0%prior 5
9
KIA2 (4.1%)
10
LEXUS2 (4.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (49 persons with recorded sex)

Male30 (61.2%)
-34.8%prior 46
Female19 (38.8%)
-36.7%prior 30

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone decreased from 36 in August 2024 to 29 in August 2025. The single crash reported outside the 25 mph zone shifted from a 35 mph zone in the prior period to a 30 mph zone in the current period. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · 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: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: MELROSE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 30
  • Total persons involved: 55
  • Total vehicles involved: 49

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). "MELROSE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/melrose/august-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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Melrose, MA Crash Report — August 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com