Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

24 CRASHES IN
NORTHBOROUGH, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, NORTHBOROUGH experienced 24 total crashes, a 4% decrease from the 25 crashes recorded in October 2023. Total injuries also saw a decrease, falling from 8 to 7. Notably, speeding-related crashes emerged in October 2024 with 2 incidents, compared to 0 in the prior year.

24

-4.0%was 25

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

7

-12.5%was 8

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 data for NORTHBOROUGH indicates a slight downward trend year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 4% from 25 to 24. Concurrently, total injuries also declined by 12.5%, from 8 to 7. Fatalities remained at zero for both periods, suggesting a stable, non-fatal crash environment.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

4.2% 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: 8-12.5%

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 temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Monday, with 7 crashes in October 2023, to Tuesday, also with 7 crashes in October 2024. The peak hour for crashes shifted from 2 PM with 5 crashes in October 2023 to 3 PM with 4 crashes in October 2024.

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

There were no fatalities reported in either October 2023 or October 2024. The total number of injuries decreased from 8 in the prior period to 7 in the current period. Minor injuries (severity B) decreased from 4 to 2, while possible injuries (severity C) increased from 1 to 4, indicating a shift in the distribution of injury severities.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes8.3%
-50.0%prior 4
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes16.7%
300.0%prior 1
No Injury18no injury crashes75%
-5.3%prior 19

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

Among contributing factors, 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased significantly from 1 crash in October 2023 to 6 crashes in October 2024. 'Followed too closely' also saw an increase from 2 crashes to 3 crashes. Conversely, 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' decreased from 3 crashes in October 2023 to 1 crash in October 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6 (25%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (16.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (16.7%)
Followed too closely3 (12.5%)
Illness1 (4.2%)
No improper driving1 (4.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.2%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (4.2%)
Distracted1 (4.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (4.2%)

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

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions (Clear/Clear or Clear) increased from 15 in October 2023 to 24 in October 2024. Conversely, crashes in rainy conditions (Rain or Rain/Rain) were 4 in October 2023 but none in October 2024. Crashes in daylight decreased from 21 to 14, while crashes in dark conditions (Dark - lighted roadway, Dark - roadway not lighted, Dark - unknown roadway lighting) increased from 4 to 10.

Weather

Clear/Clear15 (62.5%)
50.0%prior 10
Clear9 (37.5%)
80.0%prior 5

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

Lighting

Daylight14 (58.3%)
-33.3%prior 21
Dark - lighted roadway5 (20.8%)
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (20.8%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (45 vehicles)

1
HONDA10 (22.2%)
2
TOYOTA7 (15.6%)
3
HYUNDAI4 (8.9%)
4
FORD4 (8.9%)
-60.0%prior 10
5
SUBARU3 (6.7%)
6
KIA2 (4.4%)
7
CHEVROLET2 (4.4%)
8
AUDI2 (4.4%)
9
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (4.4%)
10
BUIC1 (2.2%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (62 persons with recorded sex)

Female33 (53.2%)
50.0%prior 22
Male29 (46.8%)
-19.4%prior 36

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 30 mph speed zones increased from 2 in October 2023 to 7 in October 2024. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph speed zones decreased from 8 to 5, and in 45 mph speed zones from 5 to 3. The highest number of crashes shifted from 35 mph zones in October 2023 to 30 mph zones in October 2024.

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: NORTHBOROUGH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 24
  • Total persons involved: 65
  • Total vehicles involved: 45

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). "NORTHBOROUGH, 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/northborough/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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Northborough, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com