Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

23 CRASHES IN
MELROSE, MA
JULY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2023

In July 2024, Melrose experienced 23 crashes, an increase from 19 crashes reported in July 2023, representing a 21.05% rise. The most notable year-over-year shift was the doubling of total injuries, from 4 in July 2023 to 8 in July 2024.

23

21.1%was 19

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

8

100.0%was 4

Persons Injured

4

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 · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Melrose show an upward trend, with 23 crashes reported in July 2024 compared to 19 in July 2023. This represents a 21.05% increase in total crash incidents year-over-year.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2024

17.4% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

7

Motorists Injured

Prior: 475.0%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between periods, with the peak day moving from Monday in July 2023 (5 crashes) to Friday and Wednesday in July 2024 (6 crashes each). The peak crash hour remained at 3 crashes but shifted from 6 PM in July 2023 to 1 PM in July 2024. Notably, crashes on Wednesdays and Fridays increased from 3 crashes each in July 2023 to 6 crashes each in July 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both July 2023 and July 2024. However, total injuries increased by 100%, from 4 in July 2023 to 8 in July 2024. Serious injuries increased from 1 to 2, and possible injuries rose from 0 to 3, while minor injuries decreased from 3 to 2.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes8.7%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes8.7%
-33.3%prior 3
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes13%
No Injury15no injury crashes65.2%
0.0%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' significantly increased from 4 in July 2023 to 12 in July 2024, a 200% change. Conversely, crashes involving 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 3 to 2, a 33.3% change. 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings,' which accounted for 3 crashes in July 2023, was not a factor in any crashes in July 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving12 (52.2%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (8.7%)
Illness1 (4.3%)
Inattention1 (4.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (4.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.3%)
Other improper action1 (4.3%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.3%)
Followed too closely1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 16 in July 2023 to 20 in July 2024, while 'Dry' road surface conditions saw an increase from 16 to 22 crashes. Conversely, crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces decreased from 3 to 1. The number of crashes in 'Clear' weather conditions slightly increased from 14 to 15.

Weather

Clear15 (65.2%)
7.1%prior 14
Clear/Unknown3 (13.0%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (8.7%)
Clear/Other2 (8.7%)
Rain1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight20 (87.0%)
25.0%prior 16
Dark - lighted roadway2 (8.7%)
Dawn1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry22 (95.7%)
37.5%prior 16
Wet1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (42 vehicles)

1
HONDA7 (16.7%)
0.0%prior 7
2
TOYOTA7 (16.7%)
16.7%prior 6
3
FORD4 (9.5%)
4
LEXUS2 (4.8%)
5
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (4.8%)
6
NISSAN2 (4.8%)
7
JEEP1 (2.4%)
8
SUBARU1 (2.4%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN1 (2.4%)
10
VOLVO1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (37 persons with recorded sex)

Female21 (56.8%)
23.5%prior 17
Male16 (43.2%)
-30.4%prior 23

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 13 in July 2023 to 20 in July 2024. Additionally, crashes were reported in the 15 mph zone (1 crash) and 20 mph zone (2 crashes) in July 2024, which had no reported crashes in July 2023. Conversely, zones with 10 mph (1 crash), 30 mph (1 crash), and 35 mph (2 crashes) limits, which had incidents in July 2023, reported no crashes in July 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · 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: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: MELROSE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 23
  • Total persons involved: 48
  • Total vehicles involved: 42

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: July 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/melrose/july-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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Melrose, MA Crash Report — July 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com