Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

8 CRASHES IN
MONTAGUE, MA
FEBRUARY 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2025

In February 2026, Montague experienced 8 crashes, a decrease of 42.86% compared to the 14 crashes recorded in February 2025. Despite the significant reduction in overall crash incidents, total injuries increased from 0 in the prior period to 1 in the current period. This indicates a decline in crash frequency but a slight increase in injury severity.

8

-42.9%was 14

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

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 · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash incidents in Montague decreased by 42.86%, from 14 crashes in February 2025 to 8 crashes in February 2026. While fatalities remained at zero for both periods, there was an increase in total injuries, rising from 0 in the prior year to 1 in the current year.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2026

0.0% vs prior (1)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 1 incident in both February 2025 and February 2026. However, the hit-and-run crash rate increased from 7.1% of all crashes in the prior period to 12.5% in the current period. This indicates that while the absolute number of hit-and-run incidents did not change, they constitute a larger proportion of total crashes due to the overall decrease in crash volume.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · 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. In February 2026, Friday became the peak day with 3 crashes, whereas in February 2025, Saturday was the peak day, also with 3 crashes. The peak hour also changed, with 7 p.m. recording 1 crash in the current period, compared to 8 p.m. with 3 crashes in the prior period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes12.5%
No Injury7no injury crashes87.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The most frequently cited contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' decreased from 4 crashes in February 2025 to 3 crashes in February 2026. Crashes attributed to 'Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway' remained consistent at 2 incidents in both periods. Factors such as 'Driving too fast for conditions' and 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' each increased from 0 to 1 crash, while 'Inattention' decreased from 2 crashes to 0.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving3 (37.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (25%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (12.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in snowy weather conditions increased from 3 incidents in February 2025 to 5 incidents in February 2026, while crashes in clear weather decreased from 8 to 2. Incidents during daylight hours decreased from 7 to 4, and those in unlighted dark conditions decreased from 4 to 2. On road surfaces, dry condition crashes fell from 6 to 1, and ice-covered road crashes decreased from 4 to 3, while wet road crashes increased from 0 to 1.

Weather

Snow3 (37.5%)
Clear2 (25.0%)
-66.7%prior 6
Cloudy1 (12.5%)
Snow/Clear1 (12.5%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight4 (50.0%)
-42.9%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (25.0%)
Dark - lighted roadway1 (12.5%)
Dusk1 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Ice3 (37.5%)
Snow3 (37.5%)
Dry1 (12.5%)
-83.3%prior 6
Wet1 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (12 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA2 (16.7%)
2
HYUNDAI1 (8.3%)
3
JEEP1 (8.3%)
4
NISSAN1 (8.3%)
5
PTRB1 (8.3%)
6
SUBARU1 (8.3%)
7
BUIC1 (8.3%)
8
VOLVO1 (8.3%)
9
CHEVROLET1 (8.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (10 persons with recorded sex)

Male8 (80.0%)
-38.5%prior 13
Female2 (20.0%)
-81.8%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones increased from 2 in February 2025 to 4 in February 2026, while those in 30 mph zones decreased from 3 to 2. Notably, 2 crashes occurred in 35 mph zones in the current period, where none were reported in the prior period. Conversely, 4 crashes occurred in 20 mph zones and 4 in 40 mph zones in the prior period, with no crashes reported in these zones in the current period. Fatal crash rates remained at 0 for all reported speed zones in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · 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: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: MONTAGUE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 8
  • Total persons involved: 12
  • Total vehicles involved: 12

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). "MONTAGUE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/montague/february-2026-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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Montague, MA Crash Report — February 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com