Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

19 CRASHES IN
MELROSE, MA
FEBRUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2024

In February 2025, MELROSE experienced 19 crashes, a 38.7% decrease from the 31 crashes reported in February 2024. Total fatalities remained at 0 in both periods, and total injuries remained stable at 3. A notable shift was the increase in the hit-and-run crash rate from 9.7% to 15.8%, despite the number of hit-and-run crashes remaining constant at 3.

19

-38.7%was 31

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

Persons Injured

3

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in MELROSE showed a significant downward trend year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 38.7% from 31 in February 2024 to 19 in February 2025. Both total fatalities and total injuries remained stable at 0 and 3, respectively, across both periods.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2025

0.0% vs prior (3)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 3 in both February 2024 and February 2025. However, the hit-and-run rate increased from 9.7% of total crashes in the prior period to 15.8% in the current period, reflecting a higher proportion of hit-and-run incidents among fewer total crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

2

Motorists Injured

Prior: 20.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · 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 8 crashes in February 2024 to Thursday and Monday, both with 5 crashes, in February 2025. The peak hour also changed, moving from 8 AM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 3 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crash rates remained at 0% in both February 2024 and February 2025. While total injuries remained constant at 3, the injury distribution changed from 3 minor injuries in the prior period to 1 serious injury and 2 possible injuries in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes5.3%
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes10.5%
No Injury14no injury crashes73.7%
-48.1%prior 27

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' decreased by 2 crashes, from 12 in February 2024 to 10 in February 2025. 'Failed to yield right of way' remained constant at 4 crashes in both periods, and 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' also remained constant at 2 crashes. 'Inattention,' which accounted for 4 crashes in February 2024, was not a reported factor in February 2025.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving10 (52.6%)-16.7%prior 12
Failed to yield right of way4 (21.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (10.5%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring under 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 25 in February 2024 to 9 in February 2025, while 'Dry' road surface crashes decreased from 27 to 11. Conversely, crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces increased from 4 to 6, and 'Snow' road surface crashes increased from 0 to 1. Crashes during 'Daylight' decreased from 18 to 10, and 'Dark - lighted roadway' crashes decreased from 10 to 4.

Weather

Clear9 (50.0%)
-64.0%prior 25
Cloudy2 (11.1%)
Rain2 (11.1%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.6%)
Cloudy/Unknown1 (5.6%)
Snow1 (5.6%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (5.6%)
Clear/Other1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight10 (55.6%)
-44.4%prior 18
Dark - lighted roadway4 (22.2%)
-60.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (5.6%)
Dusk1 (5.6%)
Dawn1 (5.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry11 (61.1%)
-59.3%prior 27
Wet6 (33.3%)
Snow1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (35 vehicles)

1
FORD5 (14.3%)
0.0%prior 5
2
CHEVROLET5 (14.3%)
3
TOYOTA4 (11.4%)
-60.0%prior 10
4
SUBARU3 (8.6%)
-40.0%prior 5
5
BMW2 (5.7%)
6
GMC2 (5.7%)
7
HYUNDAI2 (5.7%)
8
NISSAN2 (5.7%)
9
VOLVO1 (2.9%)
10
DODGE1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (35 persons with recorded sex)

Male20 (57.1%)
-41.2%prior 34
Female15 (42.9%)
-54.5%prior 33

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone decreased from 28 in February 2024 to 16 in February 2025. Crashes in the 35 mph zone were eliminated, dropping from 2 to 0, while a new crash was reported in the 10 mph zone, increasing from 0 to 1. Fatalities remained at 0 in all speed zones for both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · 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: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: MELROSE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 19
  • Total persons involved: 42
  • Total vehicles involved: 35

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: February 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/melrose/february-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 — February 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com