Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

41 CRASHES IN
PALMER, MA
NOVEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstNovember 2024

In Palmer, crash incidents significantly increased in November 2025 compared to November 2024. Total crashes rose from 31 to 41, marking a 32.3% increase year-over-year. The number of injured persons also saw a substantial rise, climbing from 7 to 13, an 85.7% increase.

41

32.3%was 31

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

13

85.7%was 7

Persons Injured

4

100.0%was 2

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data indicates a rising trend year-over-year for November in Palmer. Total crashes increased by 32.3%, from 31 in November 2024 to 41 in November 2025. This was accompanied by an 85.7% increase in total injuries, from 7 to 13.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — November 2025

100.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run incidents increased significantly, doubling from 2 crashes in November 2024 to 4 crashes in November 2025. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also rose from 6.5% to 9.8% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 785.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday with 7 incidents in the prior period to Sunday with 10 incidents in the current period. Additionally, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 9 AM with 4 incidents in November 2024 to 5 PM with 6 incidents in November 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both periods. While the proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, Possible) remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 22.6% to 22.0%, the absolute number of injury crashes increased from 7 to 9. Notably, serious injuries, which were 0 in November 2024, occurred in 1 crash in November 2025.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.4%
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes14.6%
20.0%prior 5
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes4.9%
0.0%prior 2
No Injury31no injury crashes75.6%
34.8%prior 23

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw notable increases in crash counts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased by 200%, from 2 to 6 incidents, and 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes doubled from 2 to 4. 'Inattention' related crashes rose by 66.7%, from 3 to 5 incidents, while 'Followed too closely' crashes increased from 0 to 4 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (22%)-10.0%prior 10
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6 (14.6%)
Inattention5 (12.2%)
Followed too closely4 (9.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner4 (9.8%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (9.8%)
Visibility obstructed3 (7.3%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2.4%)
History heart/epilepsy/fainting1 (2.4%)
Made an improper turn1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in adverse conditions saw a significant increase. Wet road surface crashes rose from 3 to 10 incidents, and rain-related crashes increased from 1 to 5. There was also a notable shift in lighting conditions, with crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' increasing from 5 to 14, and 'Daylight' crashes decreasing from 17 to 14.

Weather

Clear24 (58.5%)
0.0%prior 24
Rain5 (12.2%)
Cloudy3 (7.3%)
Clear/Clear3 (7.3%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (4.9%)
Rain/Snow2 (4.9%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds1 (2.4%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway14 (34.1%)
180.0%prior 5
Daylight14 (34.1%)
-17.6%prior 17
Dark - roadway not lighted10 (24.4%)
25.0%prior 8
Dawn2 (4.9%)
Dusk1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry31 (75.6%)
14.8%prior 27
Wet10 (24.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 52 to 71, a 36.5% rise. Among specific age groups, persons aged 16-20 involved in crashes saw a substantial increase from 2 to 13, a 550% rise. FORD and CHEVROLET vehicles showed increased involvement, with FORD incidents rising from 6 to 11 and CHEVROLET from 7 to 9, while NISSAN incidents decreased from 8 to 3.

Top Vehicle Makes (71 vehicles)

1
FORD11 (15.5%)
83.3%prior 6
2
CHEVROLET9 (12.7%)
28.6%prior 7
3
HONDA6 (8.5%)
4
JEEP5 (7%)
5
SUBARU5 (7%)
6
TOYOTA5 (7%)
0.0%prior 5
7
KIA3 (4.2%)
8
NISSAN3 (4.2%)
-62.5%prior 8
9
LINC2 (2.8%)
10
RAM2 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (83 persons with recorded sex)

Male47 (56.6%)
88.0%prior 25
Female36 (43.4%)
12.5%prior 32

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones increased from 10 to 16 incidents, making it the most frequent speed zone for crashes. Conversely, crashes in 65 mph zones decreased from 5 to 3 incidents. Crashes in 25 mph zones also saw a decrease, falling from 6 to 4 incidents.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30 · 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: 2025-11-01 through 2025-11-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-11-01 through 2025-11-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: PALMER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 41
  • Total persons involved: 92
  • Total vehicles involved: 71

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). "PALMER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: November 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-11-01 to 2025-11-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/palmer/november-2025-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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Palmer, MA Crash Report — November 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com