Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

25 CRASHES IN
MIDDLETON, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, Middleton experienced 25 total crashes, marking a 78.6% increase compared to the 14 crashes recorded in October 2023. This period also saw a significant rise in injuries, with 7 injuries reported in October 2024 versus 1 in October 2023, representing a 600% increase. No fatalities were reported in either period.

25

78.6%was 14

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

7

600.0%was 1

Persons Injured

1

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

Trend Summary

Overall crash activity in Middleton significantly increased year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 78.6% from 14 in October 2023 to 25 in October 2024. The number of injuries also saw a substantial increase, growing from 1 to 7 over the same period. This indicates a notable upward trend in both crash frequency and injury occurrence.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

4.0% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

7

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1600.0%

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 peak day for crashes shifted from Thursday in October 2023, with 4 crashes, to Friday in October 2024, which recorded 8 crashes. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 4 PM with 4 crashes in October 2023 to 8 PM with 3 crashes in October 2024. This suggests a shift in the most frequent crash times towards later in the day and the end of the work week.

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

The distribution of crash severity shifted, with 7 injury crashes (1 serious, 6 minor) reported in October 2024 compared to 1 possible injury crash in October 2023. The proportion of crashes resulting in injury increased from 7.1% (1 of 14 crashes) in the prior period to 28% (7 of 25 crashes) in the current period. There were no fatal crashes or fatalities in either October 2023 or October 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4%
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes24%
No Injury18no injury crashes72%
38.5%prior 13

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

Contributing factors saw notable changes in count and ranking year-over-year. 'Inattention' increased significantly from 2 crashes in October 2023 to 8 crashes in October 2024, becoming the leading factor. Conversely, 'No improper driving' decreased from 6 crashes to 5 crashes, and 'Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway' was a factor in 3 crashes in the prior period but was not a top factor in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention8 (32%)
No improper driving5 (20%)-16.7%prior 6
Failed to yield right of way3 (12%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4%)
Glare1 (4%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (4%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (4%)
Distracted1 (4%)

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

The majority of crashes in both periods occurred under clear weather, daylight, and dry road conditions. The proportion of crashes occurring in clear weather slightly increased from 71.4% (10 of 14 crashes) in October 2023 to 76% (19 of 25 crashes) in October 2024. Similarly, crashes during daylight hours also saw a slight proportional increase from 71.4% to 76% year-over-year.

Weather

Clear19 (79.2%)
90.0%prior 10
Cloudy3 (12.5%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (4.2%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (4.2%)

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

Lighting

Daylight19 (76.0%)
90.0%prior 10
Dark - lighted roadway5 (20.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (4.0%)

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

Road Surface

Dry22 (91.7%)
69.2%prior 13
Wet2 (8.3%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (51 vehicles)

1
HONDA7 (13.7%)
2
TOYOTA7 (13.7%)
3
CHEVROLET5 (9.8%)
4
BMW3 (5.9%)
5
JEEP3 (5.9%)
6
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.9%)
7
GMC2 (3.9%)
8
HYUNDAI2 (3.9%)
9
INFI2 (3.9%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (3.9%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (61 persons with recorded sex)

Male33 (54.1%)
94.1%prior 17
Female28 (45.9%)
154.5%prior 11

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 higher speed zones saw a notable increase year-over-year. Crashes in the 40 mph zone increased from 2 in October 2023 to 9 in October 2024, and in the 45 mph zone, crashes rose from 2 to 5. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed 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: MIDDLETON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 25
  • Total persons involved: 63
  • Total vehicles involved: 51

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). "MIDDLETON, 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/middleton/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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Middleton, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com