Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

95 CRASHES IN
METHUEN, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

Total crashes in METHUEN, MA increased from 84 in October 2023 to 95 in October 2024, representing a 13.1% rise year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 26.5% increase in total injuries, which rose from 34 to 43 persons. There were no fatalities reported in either period.

95

13.1%was 84

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

43

26.5%was 34

Persons Injured

4

33.3%was 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 · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in METHUEN, MA shows an upward trend, with total crashes increasing by 13.1% from 84 in October 2023 to 95 in October 2024. This rise indicates a general increase in reported incidents during the current period compared to the prior year.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

33.3% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 3 in October 2023 to 4 in October 2024, representing a 33.3% increase in count. The hit-and-run rate also saw an upward trend, rising from 3.6% of total crashes in the prior period to 4.2% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

42

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3231.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Saturday in October 2023 (14 crashes) to Thursday in October 2024 (19 crashes). The peak crash hour also changed, occurring at 3 PM with 11 crashes in the prior period, and shifting to 5 PM with 16 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Total injuries increased by 26.5%, from 34 in October 2023 to 43 in October 2024. While both periods reported no fatalities, the prior period recorded 1 serious injury, which was not observed in the current period. The number of minor injuries remained constant at 17, but their share of total crashes decreased from 20.2% to 17.9%, while possible injuries increased from 8 (9.5% share) to 13 (13.7% share).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury17minor injury crashes17.9%
0.0%prior 17
Possible Injury13possible injury crashes13.7%
62.5%prior 8
No Injury63no injury crashes66.3%
8.6%prior 58

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'Followed too closely', increased slightly from 20 crashes in the prior period to 21 crashes in the current period. 'Inattention' also saw a minor increase in count, from 11 to 12 crashes year-over-year. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' decreased by 50% in count, from 4 in the prior period to 2 in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely21 (22.1%)5.0%prior 20
No improper driving14 (14.7%)0.0%prior 14
Inattention12 (12.6%)9.1%prior 11
Failed to yield right of way9 (9.5%)0.0%prior 9
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6 (6.3%)20.0%prior 5
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (4.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions4 (4.2%)-20.0%prior 5
Other improper action4 (4.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.1%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 51 in the prior period to 79 in the current period, representing a larger proportion of total crashes. Adverse weather conditions, specifically rain-related incidents, decreased significantly from 18 crashes in October 2023 to 4 crashes in October 2024. Daylight remained the dominant lighting condition for crashes in both periods, increasing from 54 to 70 incidents.

Weather

Clear53 (61.6%)
35.9%prior 39
Clear/Clear26 (30.2%)
116.7%prior 12
Rain3 (3.5%)
-57.1%prior 7
Cloudy2 (2.3%)
-66.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.2%)
-80.0%prior 5
Fog, smog, smoke1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight70 (73.7%)
29.6%prior 54
Dark - lighted roadway17 (17.9%)
-5.6%prior 18
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (3.2%)
-66.7%prior 9
Dawn3 (3.2%)
Dusk2 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry80 (93.0%)
37.9%prior 58
Wet6 (7.0%)
-68.4%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 21.25%, from 160 in October 2023 to 194 in October 2024. Honda and Toyota remained the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes in both periods, with Honda increasing from 32 to 40 vehicles and Toyota increasing from 16 to 33 vehicles. The age group 65+ saw a notable increase in persons involved, rising from 10 in the prior period to 29 in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (194 vehicles)

1
HONDA40 (20.6%)
25.0%prior 32
2
TOYOTA33 (17%)
106.3%prior 16
3
FORD16 (8.2%)
77.8%prior 9
4
CHEVROLET12 (6.2%)
33.3%prior 9
5
NISSAN11 (5.7%)
22.2%prior 9
6
JEEP10 (5.2%)
42.9%prior 7
7
SUBARU8 (4.1%)
8
ACURA7 (3.6%)
-12.5%prior 8
9
HYUNDAI6 (3.1%)
10
KIA4 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (207 persons with recorded sex)

Male112 (54.1%)
-5.9%prior 119
Female95 (45.9%)
31.9%prior 72

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 3 in October 2023 to 9 in October 2024, a 200% increase in count. Crashes in 30 mph zones also rose from 21 to 26 year-over-year, and crashes in 65 mph zones increased from 14 to 18. No fatalities were recorded in any speed limit zone for either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: METHUEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 95
  • Total persons involved: 230
  • Total vehicles involved: 194

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: October 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/methuen/october-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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Methuen, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com