Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

23 CRASHES IN
NORTHBRIDGE, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, NORTHBRIDGE experienced a significant increase in crash activity compared to October 2023, with total crashes rising from 13 to 23, representing a 76.92% increase. The most notable shift was the emergence of a fatal crash in the current period, compared to zero fatalities in the prior year.

23

76.9%was 13

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

6

200.0%was 2

Persons Injured

2

100.0%was 1

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

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 trends in NORTHBRIDGE showed a substantial increase year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 13 in October 2023 to 23 in October 2024. This represents a 76.92% increase in total crash incidents. Additionally, total injuries increased from 2 to 6, and fatalities increased from 0 to 1.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

100.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 1 in October 2023 to 2 in October 2024. The hit-and-run crash rate also saw a slight increase, rising from 7.7% of total crashes in the prior period to 8.7% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2150.0%

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 peak day for crashes remained Thursday in both periods, though the number of crashes on Thursdays increased from 3 in October 2023 to 7 in October 2024. The peak crash hour shifted from 8 PM with 2 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 4 crashes in the current period. Notably, October 2024 recorded zero crashes on Saturday, while October 2023 recorded zero crashes on Friday.

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

The severity distribution saw a critical change with the occurrence of 1 fatal crash in October 2024, representing 4.3% of all crashes, compared to 0 fatal crashes in October 2023. Minor injury crashes increased from 1 to 3, and possible injury crashes remained at 1. The proportion of 'No Injury' crashes remained relatively stable, accounting for 69.2% in October 2023 and 69.6% in October 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes4.3%
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes13%
200.0%prior 1
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4.3%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury16no injury crashes69.6%
77.8%prior 9

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

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' saw a substantial increase from 1 crash in October 2023 to 11 crashes in October 2024. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' also rose significantly from 1 to 6. Conversely, crashes involving 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' decreased from 3 to 1, and 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 3 to 1 crash.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving11 (47.8%)
Inattention6 (26.1%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (4.3%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (4.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.3%)
Other improper action1 (4.3%)

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 remained dominant, increasing from 10 in October 2023 to 22 in October 2024. Crashes in daylight conditions also increased from 7 to 21, while those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions remained consistent at 2 crashes in both periods. Crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 2 to 1 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear22 (95.7%)
120.0%prior 10
Rain1 (4.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight21 (91.3%)
200.0%prior 7
Dark - lighted roadway2 (8.7%)

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

Road Surface

Dry22 (95.7%)
100.0%prior 11
Wet1 (4.3%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (40 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET7 (17.5%)
2
TOYOTA6 (15%)
3
FORD5 (12.5%)
4
JEEP5 (12.5%)
5
SUBARU3 (7.5%)
6
NISSAN2 (5%)
7
KIA1 (2.5%)
8
LEXUS1 (2.5%)
9
MITS1 (2.5%)
10
HYUNDAI1 (2.5%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (47 persons with recorded sex)

Male27 (57.4%)
107.7%prior 13
Female20 (42.6%)
150.0%prior 8

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 the 25 mph speed zone increased from 3 in October 2023 to 8 in October 2024, and this zone recorded the only fatal crash in the current period. Crashes in the 30 mph zone increased from 4 to 6, and in the 35 mph zone, they increased from 2 to 6. The prior period included crashes in 5 mph, 10 mph, and 40 mph zones, which were not present in the current data.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 8 (12.5%)

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: NORTHBRIDGE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 23
  • Total persons involved: 53
  • Total vehicles involved: 40

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). "NORTHBRIDGE, 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/northbridge/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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Northbridge, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com