Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

257 CRASHES IN
NORWELL, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Norwell recorded 257 total vehicle crashes, a 61.6% increase from the 159 crashes recorded in 2023. This year also saw one fatal crash resulting in one fatality, whereas the prior year had none. The total number of injuries also rose from 56 in 2023 to 100 in 2024, a 78.6% increase.

257

61.6%was 159

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

100

78.6%was 56

Persons Injured

7

40.0%was 5

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. 4 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 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Traffic crashes in Norwell showed a significant upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 61.6%, from 159 in 2023 to 257 in 2024. This was accompanied by a 78.6% rise in total injuries, from 56 to 100, and the registration of one fatality in 2024 compared to zero in the previous year.

7

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

40.0% vs prior (5)

The absolute number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 5 in 2023 to 7 in 2024. However, due to the larger overall increase in total crashes, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all incidents decreased slightly. The rate fell from 3.1% of all crashes in the prior year to 2.7% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

95

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5669.6%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Monday (30 crashes) in 2023 to Tuesday (44 crashes) in 2024. The peak hour also changed notably, shifting from the 5 p.m. evening commute hour in the prior year to the 11 a.m. hour in the current year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity increased in 2024 with one fatal crash recorded, compared to zero in 2023. While the absolute number of injury-involved crashes grew, their proportion relative to all crashes saw a slight decrease from 29.5% in 2023 to 27.6% in 2024. The share of crashes with no reported injuries remained stable at approximately 70% in both periods.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.4%
Serious Injury4serious injury crashes1.6%
33.3%prior 3
Minor Injury52minor injury crashes20.2%
79.3%prior 29
Possible Injury15possible injury crashes5.8%
0.0%prior 15
No Injury181no injury crashes70.4%
64.5%prior 110

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

While "No improper driving" remained the most common finding in both years, its count increased by 82.4% from 51 to 93. The count of crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" decreased slightly from 24 to 22. The most significant year-over-year change was a 600% increase in the count of crashes involving an "erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive" driving manner, which rose from 2 to 14 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving93 (36.2%)82.4%prior 51
Followed too closely22 (8.6%)-8.3%prior 24
Inattention18 (7%)63.6%prior 11
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner14 (5.4%)
Distracted12 (4.7%)
Failed to yield right of way9 (3.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road9 (3.5%)-10.0%prior 10
Other improper action5 (1.9%)-44.4%prior 9
Illness4 (1.6%)
Fatigued/asleep3 (1.2%)-62.5%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

A larger share of crashes occurred in clear conditions in 2024 compared to the prior year. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 74.2% of the total in 2023 to 82.5% in 2024. Correspondingly, the proportion of crashes occurring in daylight hours also increased from 61.6% in 2023 to 69.3% in 2024.

Weather

Clear187 (73.9%)
83.3%prior 102
Cloudy16 (6.3%)
128.6%prior 7
Clear/Clear13 (5.1%)
Rain10 (4.0%)
-23.1%prior 13
Snow6 (2.4%)
-14.3%prior 7
Cloudy/Rain6 (2.4%)
Rain/Cloudy4 (1.6%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (1.2%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds2 (0.8%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight178 (69.5%)
81.6%prior 98
Dark - roadway not lighted33 (12.9%)
22.2%prior 27
Dark - lighted roadway28 (10.9%)
3.7%prior 27
Dusk9 (3.5%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting7 (2.7%)
Dawn1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry212 (83.1%)
79.7%prior 118
Wet33 (12.9%)
26.9%prior 26
Snow8 (3.1%)
-27.3%prior 11
Ice2 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota and Ford remained the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes for both years. Chevrolet's involvement increased significantly, moving it from the fourth-ranked make in 2023 (22 vehicles) to the second in 2024 (47 vehicles). The number of persons aged 65 and older involved in crashes saw a substantial increase, rising from 48 in 2023 to 89 in 2024, making it the most frequent age group in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (457 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA70 (15.3%)
48.9%prior 47
2
CHEVROLET47 (10.3%)
113.6%prior 22
3
FORD45 (9.8%)
15.4%prior 39
4
JEEP37 (8.1%)
85.0%prior 20
5
HONDA30 (6.6%)
25.0%prior 24
6
NISSAN25 (5.5%)
38.9%prior 18
7
SUBARU25 (5.5%)
150.0%prior 10
8
VOLKSWAGEN14 (3.1%)
55.6%prior 9
9
BMW14 (3.1%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ13 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (531 persons with recorded sex)

Male297 (55.9%)
95.4%prior 152
Female234 (44.1%)
59.2%prior 147

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crash distribution across speed zones shifted year-over-year. While crashes in 60 mph zones decreased from 66 to 55, incidents in 35 mph zones nearly doubled from 39 to 77. The single fatal crash recorded in 2024 occurred in a 45 mph zone, a speed limit where no crashes were reported in the prior year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 45 mph: 1 of 2 (50%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: NORWELL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 257
  • Total persons involved: 565
  • Total vehicles involved: 457

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). "NORWELL, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/norwell/2024-annual-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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Norwell, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com