Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

257 CRASHES IN
NEW BEDFORD, MA
JULY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2023

In July 2024, New Bedford, MA recorded 257 crashes, a 22.36% decrease from the 331 crashes reported in July 2023. This period saw a significant year-over-year reduction in total crashes, accompanied by a notable decrease in hit-and-run incidents.

257

-22.4%was 331

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

80

-3.6%was 83

Persons Injured

44

-39.7%was 73

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. 19 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for New Bedford, MA indicates a downward trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 22.36%, falling from 331 in July 2023 to 257 in July 2024.

44

Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2024

-39.7% vs prior (73)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 73 in July 2023 to 44 in July 2024. This reduction resulted in a decrease in the hit-and-run rate from 22.1% to 17.1% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 4-50.0%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 4-25.0%

74

Motorists Injured

Prior: 740.0%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 10.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes showed shifts between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday in July 2023 (73 crashes) to Monday in July 2024 (50 crashes). The peak crash hour also shifted from 1p (26 crashes) in July 2023 to 4p (23 crashes) in July 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either July 2023 or July 2024. Serious injury crashes decreased by 2, from 4 in July 2023 to 2 in July 2024. Minor injury crashes also saw a reduction from 44 to 35, while possible injury crashes decreased from 21 to 18.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes0.8%
-50.0%prior 4
Minor Injury35minor injury crashes13.6%
-20.5%prior 44
Possible Injury18possible injury crashes7%
-14.3%prior 21
No Injury183no injury crashes71.2%
-17.2%prior 221

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased by 5, from 98 in July 2023 to 103 in July 2024. Conversely, crashes involving 'Inattention' decreased by 6 (from 27 to 21), and 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 8 (from 22 to 14). Crashes where 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' was a factor saw an increase of 3, rising from 1 to 4.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving103 (40.1%)5.1%prior 98
Inattention21 (8.2%)-22.2%prior 27
Other improper action14 (5.4%)16.7%prior 12
Failed to yield right of way14 (5.4%)-36.4%prior 22
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner13 (5.1%)0.0%prior 13
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road9 (3.5%)
Distracted8 (3.1%)60.0%prior 5
Followed too closely7 (2.7%)0.0%prior 7
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings7 (2.7%)40.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit4 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Clear weather remained the most common condition for crashes, though the count decreased from 269 in July 2023 to 208 in July 2024. Crashes occurring during daylight hours decreased from 236 to 188 year-over-year. While crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 305 to 233, those on wet surfaces increased from 18 to 24.

Weather

Clear208 (81.3%)
-22.7%prior 269
Cloudy21 (8.2%)
10.5%prior 19
Rain8 (3.1%)
-20.0%prior 10
Clear/Other6 (2.3%)
Cloudy/Rain4 (1.6%)
Clear/Unknown3 (1.2%)
-70.0%prior 10
Rain/Cloudy1 (0.4%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.4%)
-87.5%prior 8
Clear/Rain1 (0.4%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight188 (74.9%)
-20.3%prior 236
Dark - lighted roadway53 (21.1%)
-20.9%prior 67
Dusk6 (2.4%)
20.0%prior 5
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.8%)
Dawn1 (0.4%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (0.4%)
-85.7%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry233 (90.7%)
-23.6%prior 305
Wet24 (9.3%)
33.3%prior 18

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 655 in July 2023 to 519 in July 2024. Honda remained the top vehicle make involved, though its count decreased from 86 to 69. The 26-34 age group experienced the largest decrease in person involvement, dropping from 118 to 81, while the 0-15 age group saw an increase from 36 to 41.

Top Vehicle Makes (519 vehicles)

1
HONDA69 (13.3%)
-19.8%prior 86
2
TOYOTA65 (12.5%)
-14.5%prior 76
3
FORD47 (9.1%)
-19.0%prior 58
4
NISSAN42 (8.1%)
-2.3%prior 43
5
CHEVROLET34 (6.6%)
-32.0%prior 50
6
JEEP31 (6%)
55.0%prior 20
7
KIA28 (5.4%)
21.7%prior 23
8
HYUNDAI25 (4.8%)
-32.4%prior 37
9
MERCEDES-BENZ14 (2.7%)
-17.6%prior 17
10
BMW11 (2.1%)
22.2%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (471 persons with recorded sex)

Male259 (55.0%)
-21.0%prior 328
Female212 (45.0%)
-10.9%prior 238

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The 30 mph speed zone continued to account for the highest number of crashes, decreasing from 204 in July 2023 to 156 in July 2024. Crashes in the 25 mph zone also decreased from 54 to 42. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31 · 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: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-07-01 through 2024-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: NEW BEDFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 257
  • Total persons involved: 638
  • Total vehicles involved: 519

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). "NEW BEDFORD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2024-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/new-bedford/july-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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New Bedford, MA Crash Report — July 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com