Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

22 CRASHES IN
PEPPERELL, MA
JANUARY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2023

PEPPERELL experienced a substantial increase in crash activity in January 2024 compared to January 2023. Total crashes rose from 12 to 22, representing an 83.3% increase year-over-year. The most notable shift was the 100% increase in total injuries, climbing from 3 to 6.

22

83.3%was 12

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

100.0%was 3

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 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 · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant rise in crash activity year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 83.3%, from 12 in January 2023 to 22 in January 2024. This was accompanied by a 100% increase in total injuries, from 3 to 6.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3100.0%

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

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday with 4 crashes in January 2023 to Wednesday with 6 crashes in January 2024. Similarly, the peak crash hour shifted from 3 PM with 2 crashes in January 2023 to 4 PM with 5 crashes in January 2024.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either January 2023 or January 2024. The total number of injuries increased from 3 in the prior period to 6 in the current period. Crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, Possible) accounted for 25% of crashes in January 2023 (3 out of 12 crashes) and 18.2% in January 2024 (4 out of 22 crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4.5%
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes9.1%
0.0%prior 2
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury18no injury crashes81.8%
125.0%prior 8

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving', increased from 2 crashes in January 2023 to 6 crashes in January 2024. 'Inattention' also saw an increase, rising from 2 crashes to 5 crashes year-over-year. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased from 3 in January 2023 to 1 in January 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (27.3%)
Inattention5 (22.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (9.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (9.1%)
Other improper action1 (4.5%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.5%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (4.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (4.5%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (4.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (4.5%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions significantly increased, from 3 in January 2023 to 15 in January 2024. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 2 to 14. There was a notable increase in crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions, from 2 in the prior period to 9 in the current period, while crashes in daylight remained constant at 9 for both periods.

Weather

Clear15 (68.2%)
Cloudy4 (18.2%)
Snow2 (9.1%)
Rain1 (4.5%)

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

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway9 (40.9%)
Daylight9 (40.9%)
0.0%prior 9
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (9.1%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (9.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry14 (63.6%)
Snow5 (22.7%)
Wet2 (9.1%)
Ice1 (4.5%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (33 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA12 (36.4%)
2
FORD6 (18.2%)
3
CHEVROLET5 (15.2%)
4
CADI2 (6.1%)
5
RAM2 (6.1%)
6
HONDA1 (3%)
7
INTL1 (3%)
8
MAZDA1 (3%)
9
CHRYSLER1 (3%)
10
SUBARU1 (3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (45 persons with recorded sex)

Male28 (62.2%)
300.0%prior 7
Female17 (37.8%)
112.5%prior 8

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 40 MPH speed zone increased significantly from 1 in January 2023 to 8 in January 2024. The 30 MPH zone saw a decrease in crashes, from 8 to 5. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone for either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: PEPPERELL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 22
  • Total persons involved: 48
  • Total vehicles involved: 33

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