Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

39 CRASHES IN
READING, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Reading, MA recorded 39 total crashes, an 8.3% increase from the 36 crashes reported in March 2023. Total injuries rose by 50%, from 8 to 12, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods. The most notable shift was a significant increase in hit-and-run crashes, which rose from 0 in March 2023 to 5 in March 2024.

39

8.3%was 36

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

12

50.0%was 8

Persons Injured

5

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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for Reading, MA shows a rising trend year-over-year for the month of March. Total crashes increased by 8.3%, from 36 in March 2023 to 39 in March 2024. This increase was accompanied by a 50% rise in total injuries, from 8 to 12.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2024

12.8% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 837.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Monday in March 2023 (8 crashes) to both Sunday and Tuesday in March 2024 (8 crashes each). The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 1 PM in March 2023 (5 crashes) to 9 AM in March 2024 (5 crashes). This indicates a shift in high-frequency crash times.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either March 2023 or March 2024. Minor injuries (severity 'B') saw a notable increase, rising from 1 crash (2.8% of total) in March 2023 to 4 crashes (10.3% of total) in March 2024. Crashes resulting in no injury ('O') decreased in proportion from 83.3% to 69.2% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury4minor injury crashes10.3%
300.0%prior 1
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes12.8%
0.0%prior 5
No Injury27no injury crashes69.2%
-10.0%prior 30

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'Followed too closely' saw a substantial increase, rising from 4 crashes in March 2023 to 14 crashes in March 2024, a 250% increase in count. Conversely, 'Inattention' decreased significantly from 9 crashes to 3 crashes, and 'No improper driving' also dropped from 9 crashes to 6 crashes. 'Failed to yield right of way' remained constant with 3 crashes in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely14 (35.9%)
No improper driving6 (15.4%)-33.3%prior 9
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (7.7%)
Inattention3 (7.7%)-66.7%prior 9
Failed to yield right of way3 (7.7%)
Other improper action3 (7.7%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (5.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (5.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions decreased from 22 in March 2023 to 12 in March 2024, while those in 'Clear' conditions increased from 7 to 15. The number of crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces quadrupled, rising from 2 in March 2023 to 8 in March 2024. Crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 5 to 9 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear15 (39.5%)
114.3%prior 7
Clear/Clear12 (31.6%)
-45.5%prior 22
Cloudy/Rain3 (7.9%)
Cloudy2 (5.3%)
Cloudy/Cloudy2 (5.3%)
Rain/Rain1 (2.6%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (2.6%)
Cloudy/Fog, smog, smoke1 (2.6%)
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke1 (2.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight28 (71.8%)
-3.4%prior 29
Dark - lighted roadway9 (23.1%)
80.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.6%)
Dusk1 (2.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry31 (79.5%)
3.3%prior 30
Wet8 (20.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 73 in March 2023 to 76 in March 2024. Toyota, Ford, and Honda remained among the top three vehicle makes involved, though Toyota's count decreased from 16 to 12. In terms of persons involved, the 26-34 age group saw a significant increase from 13 to 22, while the 65+ age group decreased from 14 to 5. The number of male persons involved slightly decreased from 47 to 45, and female persons increased from 33 to 36.

Top Vehicle Makes (76 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA12 (15.8%)
-25.0%prior 16
2
HONDA10 (13.2%)
-16.7%prior 12
3
FORD8 (10.5%)
-38.5%prior 13
4
CHEVROLET6 (7.9%)
5
JEEP5 (6.6%)
0.0%prior 5
6
NISSAN5 (6.6%)
7
LEXUS4 (5.3%)
8
BMW3 (3.9%)
9
HYUNDAI3 (3.9%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (3.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (82 persons with recorded sex)

Male45 (54.9%)
-4.3%prior 47
Female36 (43.9%)
9.1%prior 33
X / Unspecified1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 55 mph speed zones doubled, increasing from 7 in March 2023 to 14 in March 2024. Crashes in 30 mph zones saw a slight increase from 13 to 14. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 5 to 2. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: READING, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 39
  • Total persons involved: 94
  • Total vehicles involved: 76

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). "READING, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/reading/march-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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Reading, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com