ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · METHUEN, MA · MAY 2024
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/methuen/may-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
100 CRASHES IN
METHUEN, MA
MAY 2024
In May 2024, Methuen experienced 100 total crashes, an increase of 19.05% compared to the 84 crashes recorded in May 2023. The most notable shift was the increase in total fatalities, rising from 0 in May 2023 to 2 in May 2024, and fatal crashes, which increased from 0 to 1 during the same period.
100
▲ 19.0%was 84
Total Crash Events
2
Persons Killed
39
▲ 34.5%was 29
Persons Injured
4
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, crash activity in Methuen trended upwards year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 19.05% from 84 in May 2023 to 100 in May 2024. This rise was accompanied by a significant increase in total fatalities, from 0 to 2, and total injuries, from 29 to 39, representing a 34.48% increase.
4
Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2024
▼ 0.0% vs prior (4)
The count of hit-and-run crashes remained stable at 4 in both May 2023 and May 2024. However, due to the overall increase in total crashes, the hit-and-run crash rate decreased from 4.8% in May 2023 to 4% in May 2024.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
2
Motorists Killed
39
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for crashes remained Friday in both periods, with 20 crashes in May 2024 compared to 18 in May 2023. The peak hour shifted from 3 PM with 9 crashes in May 2023 to 4 PM with 15 crashes in May 2024. This indicates a consistent concentration of crashes towards the end of the work week and during late afternoon commuting hours.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
Crash severity saw a significant increase in fatal outcomes year-over-year, with 1 fatal crash and 2 fatalities reported in May 2024, up from 0 fatal crashes and 0 fatalities in May 2023. Minor injury crashes increased from 12 in May 2023 to 21 in May 2024, while possible injury crashes decreased from 11 to 8. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury decreased from 71.4% to 70%.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 1 fatal crash events resulted in 2 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The top contributing factors saw shifts in their counts and rankings year-over-year. 'Followed too closely' increased by 7 crashes, from 15 in May 2023 to 22 in May 2024, becoming the leading factor. 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 6 crashes, from 23 to 17, moving from the top factor to the third, while 'No improper driving' increased by 6 crashes, from 14 to 20.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased in proportion, with 70% (70 crashes) in May 2024 compared to 90.5% (76 crashes) in May 2023. The number of crashes during daylight hours increased from 64 to 89, while crashes in dark conditions (lighted or unlighted) decreased from 18 to 11. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 75 to 79, while crashes on wet surfaces slightly decreased from 7 to 6.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 16.48%, from 176 in May 2023 to 205 in May 2024. Honda remained the most frequently involved make with 42 vehicles in both periods. Toyota involvement increased from 26 to 27, and Ford involvement increased significantly from 15 to 23.
Top Vehicle Makes (205 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Vehicle unit records
13 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (230 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes at the 65 mph speed limit increased from 13 in May 2023 to 16 in May 2024, and this speed zone recorded the only fatal crash in May 2024. Crashes at 55 mph increased from 6 to 15, while crashes at 30 mph remained stable at 23 in both periods. The 35 mph speed limit saw a slight decrease from 16 crashes to 15 crashes.
Fatal crashes by zone: 65 mph: 1 of 16 (6.25%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · 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: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: METHUEN, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 100
- Total persons involved: 260
- Total vehicles involved: 205
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: May 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/methuen/may-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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2024-05-01 – 2024-05-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved