Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

113 CRASHES IN
METHUEN, MA
JANUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2024

Total crashes in METHUEN decreased from 140 in January 2024 to 113 in January 2025, marking a 19.3% reduction year-over-year. This period also saw a significant 50% decrease in total injuries, falling from 62 to 31.

113

-19.3%was 140

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

31

-50.0%was 62

Persons Injured

3

-66.7%was 9

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, METHUEN experienced a downward trend in crash incidents, with total crashes decreasing by 19.3% from 140 to 113. This reduction was accompanied by a 50% decrease in total injuries, indicating a positive trend in traffic safety outcomes for the month.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2025

-66.7% vs prior (9)

Hit-and-run crashes significantly decreased year-over-year, falling from 9 incidents in January 2024 to 3 incidents in January 2025. This represents a reduction in the hit-and-run rate from 6.4% to 2.7% of all crashes. The trend for hit-and-run incidents is downward.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

30

Motorists Injured

Prior: 61-50.8%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31 · 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 Tuesday in January 2024 (30 crashes) to Monday in January 2025 (27 crashes). The peak hour also shifted, from 3 PM with 14 crashes in the prior period to 6 PM with 13 crashes in the current period. Overall, crash counts on most days of the week and hours of the day decreased year-over-year.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either January 2024 or January 2025. Total injuries decreased substantially from 62 in the prior period to 31 in the current period. Serious injuries (code A) were reported in the prior period (2 crashes, 1.4% of crashes) but not in the current period, while minor injuries (code B) decreased from 27 crashes (19.3%) to 11 crashes (9.7%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury11minor injury crashes9.7%
-59.3%prior 27
Possible Injury14possible injury crashes12.4%
-30.0%prior 20
No Injury88no injury crashes77.9%
-2.2%prior 90

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 28 in January 2024 to 27 in January 2025. 'Followed too closely' crashes saw a slight increase from 19 to 20, while 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased from 21 to 14. 'Driving too fast for conditions' crashes significantly reduced from 10 to 5, and 'Inattention' crashes increased from 9 to 14.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving27 (23.9%)-3.6%prior 28
Followed too closely20 (17.7%)5.3%prior 19
Inattention14 (12.4%)55.6%prior 9
Failed to yield right of way14 (12.4%)-33.3%prior 21
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (6.2%)-50.0%prior 14
Driving too fast for conditions5 (4.4%)-50.0%prior 10
Other improper action3 (2.7%)-40.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit3 (2.7%)-40.0%prior 5
Made an improper turn2 (1.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (1.8%)-71.4%prior 7

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions decreased from 79 in January 2024 to 61 in January 2025, and crashes in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions decreased from 19 to 9. Crashes on 'Snow' road surfaces decreased from 26 to 11, and 'Wet' road surface crashes decreased from 19 to 11. Conversely, crashes in 'Clear' weather increased from 51 to 55.

Weather

Clear55 (57.3%)
7.8%prior 51
Clear/Clear13 (13.5%)
0.0%prior 13
Cloudy10 (10.4%)
-23.1%prior 13
Snow6 (6.3%)
-71.4%prior 21
Snow/Snow4 (4.2%)
-33.3%prior 6
Snow/Blowing sand, snow1 (1.0%)
Snow/Other1 (1.0%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (1.0%)
-80.0%prior 5
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.0%)
Clear/Snow1 (1.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight61 (54.0%)
-22.8%prior 79
Dark - lighted roadway35 (31.0%)
-7.9%prior 38
Dark - roadway not lighted9 (8.0%)
-52.6%prior 19
Dawn4 (3.5%)
Dusk3 (2.7%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.9%)

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

Road Surface

Dry63 (66.3%)
-8.7%prior 69
Wet11 (11.6%)
-42.1%prior 19
Snow11 (11.6%)
-57.7%prior 26
Ice7 (7.4%)
Slush3 (3.2%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 262 in January 2024 to 219 in January 2025. Honda became the top vehicle make involved in crashes (46 vehicles), surpassing Toyota (25 vehicles), which was the top make in the prior period (43 vehicles). The age group 16-20 saw an increase in persons involved in crashes from 28 to 40, while the 0-15 age group decreased from 20 to 10.

Top Vehicle Makes (219 vehicles)

1
HONDA46 (21%)
12.2%prior 41
2
FORD30 (13.7%)
7.1%prior 28
3
TOYOTA25 (11.4%)
-41.9%prior 43
4
NISSAN14 (6.4%)
-6.7%prior 15
5
CHEVROLET13 (5.9%)
-27.8%prior 18
6
JEEP10 (4.6%)
-16.7%prior 12
7
HYUNDAI7 (3.2%)
16.7%prior 6
8
LEXUS6 (2.7%)
9
SUBARU6 (2.7%)
-33.3%prior 9
10
AUDI5 (2.3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (246 persons with recorded sex)

Male159 (64.6%)
-7.6%prior 172
Female87 (35.4%)
-24.3%prior 115

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones decreased from 38 in January 2024 to 23 in January 2025, and 65 mph speed zone crashes decreased from 19 to 15. Crashes in 55 mph zones also decreased from 9 to 6. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone in either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: METHUEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 113
  • Total persons involved: 271
  • Total vehicles involved: 219

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). "METHUEN, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/methuen/january-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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Methuen, MA Crash Report — January 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com