Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

51 CRASHES IN
NATICK, MA
SEPTEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2023

In September 2024, Natick recorded 51 total crashes, a decrease from 73 crashes in September 2023. This represents a 30.1% reduction in total crashes year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 64.0% decrease in total injuries, falling from 25 to 9.

51

-30.1%was 73

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

9

-64.0%was 25

Persons Injured

3

200.0%was 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 · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends for Natick show a significant decline year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 30.1% from 73 to 51. Total fatalities remained at zero in both periods, while total injuries saw a substantial 64.0% reduction, from 25 to 9.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2024

200.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 1 in September 2023 to 3 in September 2024. The hit-and-run rate also rose significantly, from 1.4% of total crashes in the prior period to 5.9% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 20.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 23-73.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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 Friday with 14 crashes in September 2023 to Thursday with 10 crashes in September 2024. Similarly, the peak crash hour changed from 10 AM with 8 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM, also with 8 crashes, in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both periods reported zero fatal crashes. The number of minor injuries decreased from 10 in September 2023 to 8 in September 2024, and possible injuries, which accounted for 6 crashes in the prior period, were not reported in the current period. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury increased from 76.7% to 84.3% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury8minor injury crashes15.7%
-20.0%prior 10
No Injury43no injury crashes84.3%
-23.2%prior 56

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' decreased by 1 count, from 24 in September 2023 to 23 in September 2024, while its share of total crashes increased from 32.9% to 45.1%. 'Followed too closely' crashes saw a notable decrease of 9 counts, from 14 to 5, and 'No improper driving' crashes decreased by 7 counts, from 13 to 6.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention23 (45.1%)-4.2%prior 24
No improper driving6 (11.8%)-53.8%prior 13
Failed to yield right of way6 (11.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (9.8%)
Followed too closely5 (9.8%)-64.3%prior 14
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway3 (5.9%)
Visibility obstructed1 (2%)
Made an improper turn1 (2%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 60 to 45, though their proportion increased from 82.2% to 88.2% of total crashes. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces decreased from 59 to 48, but their proportion rose from 80.8% to 94.1%. Crashes in 'Rain' conditions decreased from 7 to 3, and on 'Wet' road surfaces from 14 to 3.

Weather

Clear45 (88.2%)
-25.0%prior 60
Cloudy3 (5.9%)
Rain3 (5.9%)
-57.1%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight43 (84.3%)
-27.1%prior 59
Dark - lighted roadway4 (7.8%)
-42.9%prior 7
Dusk3 (5.9%)
-40.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry48 (94.1%)
-18.6%prior 59
Wet3 (5.9%)
-78.6%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 139 to 97 year-over-year. Toyota became the most frequently involved vehicle make in the current period with 20 vehicles, up from 17, surpassing Honda which decreased from 27 to 15. The 16-20 and 21-25 age groups saw significant decreases in persons involved, from 24 to 12 and 20 to 3 respectively.

Top Vehicle Makes (97 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA20 (20.6%)
17.6%prior 17
2
HONDA15 (15.5%)
-44.4%prior 27
3
CHEVROLET10 (10.3%)
66.7%prior 6
4
JEEP9 (9.3%)
-25.0%prior 12
5
SUBARU6 (6.2%)
-33.3%prior 9
6
FORD5 (5.2%)
-58.3%prior 12
7
MAZDA4 (4.1%)
8
HYUNDAI4 (4.1%)
-20.0%prior 5
9
GMC3 (3.1%)
10
KIA3 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (113 persons with recorded sex)

Male58 (51.3%)
-35.6%prior 90
Female55 (48.7%)
-20.3%prior 69

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 31 to 22, and in 35 mph zones from 20 to 10. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 5 to 8.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: NATICK, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 51
  • Total persons involved: 117
  • Total vehicles involved: 97

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). "NATICK, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/natick/september-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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Natick, MA Crash Report — September 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com