ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · NEEDHAM, MA · JANUARY 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/needham/january-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
53 CRASHES IN
NEEDHAM, MA
JANUARY 2024
Total crashes in Needham increased by 20.45%, rising from 44 in January 2023 to 53 in January 2024. This period also saw a substantial rise in total injuries, increasing by 275% from 4 to 15. Additionally, hit-and-run crashes doubled year-over-year.
53
▲ 20.5%was 44
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
15
▲ 275.0%was 4
Persons Injured
6
▲ 100.0%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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, crash data for Needham indicates an upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 20.45%, rising from 44 in January 2023 to 53 in January 2024.
6
Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2024
▲ 100.0% vs prior (3)
The number of hit-and-run crashes increased by 100%, rising from 3 in January 2023 to 6 in January 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run crash rate also increased from 6.8% to 11.3% of all crashes, indicating an upward trend.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Cyclists Killed
0
Motorists Killed
1
Cyclists Injured
14
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · 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 Monday in January 2023, with 10 crashes, to Tuesday in January 2024, with 11 crashes. The peak hour also changed, moving from 3 PM in the prior period (7 crashes) to 12 PM in the current period (7 crashes), maintaining the same crash count.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
There were no fatal crashes in either January 2023 or January 2024. However, the proportion of crashes involving injuries significantly increased from 9.1% (4 injuries in 44 crashes) in the prior period to 28.3% (15 injuries in 53 crashes) in the current period. January 2024 recorded 1 serious injury, 7 minor injuries, and 2 possible injuries, whereas January 2023 only recorded 4 minor injuries.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The contributing factor 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased in count from 10 in January 2023 to 6 in January 2024. 'Driving too fast for conditions' also saw a decrease from 7 to 6 crashes. Conversely, 'No improper driving' increased from 4 to 9 crashes, and 'Distracted' crashes increased from 1 to 6.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 20 in January 2023 to 33 in January 2024, while crashes in wet weather decreased from 18 to 8. Despite the overall increase in crashes, those on dry road surfaces rose from 20 to 34, and those on snow/slush/ice increased from 5 to 11. Crashes during daylight hours increased from 28 to 36, and crashes in unlit dark conditions increased from 2 to 6.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 77 in January 2023 to 95 in January 2024. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, with 19 vehicles in the current period compared to 18 in the prior. There was a notable increase in persons aged 26-34 involved in crashes, rising from 10 to 18, and those aged 35-44, increasing from 11 to 16.
Top Vehicle Makes (95 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Vehicle unit records
16 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (96 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone slightly increased from 29 in January 2023 to 31 in January 2024. A more significant increase was observed in the 35 mph zone, rising from 2 crashes to 6 crashes. Crashes in the 55 mph zone also saw a minor increase from 6 to 7, and no fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: NEEDHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 53
- Total persons involved: 112
- Total vehicles involved: 95
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). "NEEDHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/needham/january-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: 2024-01-01 – 2024-01-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved