Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

636 CRASHES IN
SAUGUS, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In Saugus, total traffic crashes decreased by 5.4%, from 672 in 2024 to 636 in 2025. The most significant year-over-year change was the elimination of traffic fatalities, which dropped from one in the prior year to zero in the current period. Total injuries also declined from 257 to 240.

636

-5.4%was 672

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

240

-6.6%was 257

Persons Injured

79

9.7%was 72

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in traffic safety shows improvement year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 5.4% from 672 to 636, and the number of people injured fell by 6.6% from 257 to 240. Notably, traffic fatalities were eliminated, dropping from one death in 2024 to zero in 2025.

79

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

9.7% vs prior (72)

Hit-and-run incidents showed an upward trend compared to the previous year. The absolute number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 72 in 2024 to 79 in 2025. The hit-and-run rate also climbed, rising from 10.7% of all crashes in the prior period to 12.4% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 11-63.6%

234

Motorists Injured

Prior: 236-0.8%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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 Monday, with 111 incidents in 2024, to Saturday, with 106 incidents in 2025. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions shifted two hours earlier, moving from 6 p.m. (66 crashes) in the prior year to 4 p.m. (59 crashes) in the current year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity outcomes improved year-over-year, highlighted by a reduction in fatal crashes from one to zero. The count of serious injury crashes also decreased from 15 to 13, with their share of all crashes falling from 2.2% to 2.0%. Correspondingly, the proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 66.7% of all incidents in 2024 to 69.7% in 2025.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury13serious injury crashes2%
-13.3%prior 15
Minor Injury121minor injury crashes19%
-13.6%prior 140
Possible Injury45possible injury crashes7.1%
-11.8%prior 51
No Injury443no injury crashes69.7%
-1.1%prior 448

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors to crashes remained consistent, with "No improper driving" and "Followed too closely" being the top two reported factors in both periods. While the top rankings were stable, the number of crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" increased from 80 to 92, a 15% rise in count. In contrast, crashes involving an "Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner" decreased from 26 to 22 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving257 (40.4%)1.2%prior 254
Followed too closely92 (14.5%)15.0%prior 80
Inattention47 (7.4%)0.0%prior 47
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner22 (3.5%)-15.4%prior 26
Failed to yield right of way22 (3.5%)-4.3%prior 23
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road20 (3.1%)-13.0%prior 23
Driving too fast for conditions17 (2.7%)0.0%prior 17
Exceeded authorized speed limit8 (1.3%)-33.3%prior 12
Fatigued/asleep8 (1.3%)-20.0%prior 10
Other improper action8 (1.3%)-38.5%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The environmental conditions under which crashes occurred were largely stable year-over-year. In both 2024 and 2025, 82.1% of crashes happened on dry road surfaces. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight saw a minor increase from 62.8% to 65.1%, while the share of crashes in adverse weather conditions like rain and snow remained proportionally similar.

Weather

Clear428 (67.3%)
-14.2%prior 499
Clear/Clear76 (11.9%)
660.0%prior 10
Rain43 (6.8%)
-14.0%prior 50
Cloudy33 (5.2%)
-38.9%prior 54
Snow11 (1.7%)
-31.3%prior 16
Clear/Cloudy7 (1.1%)
-22.2%prior 9
Cloudy/Rain7 (1.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
Rain/Rain5 (0.8%)
Rain/Cloudy5 (0.8%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow4 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight414 (65.2%)
-1.9%prior 422
Dark - lighted roadway189 (29.8%)
-3.1%prior 195
Dusk16 (2.5%)
-23.8%prior 21
Dark - roadway not lighted8 (1.3%)
-50.0%prior 16
Dawn6 (0.9%)
-57.1%prior 14
Other2 (0.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry522 (82.1%)
-5.4%prior 552
Wet80 (12.6%)
-14.9%prior 94
Snow20 (3.1%)
0.0%prior 20
Ice12 (1.9%)
Slush2 (0.3%)
-60.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes were consistent, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford being the top three in both years. The number of Toyotas involved in crashes increased from 212 to 234, while Ford involvement decreased from 130 to 116. Demographically, the 26-34 age group remained the most frequently involved in crashes, while the number of individuals aged 65 and older involved in crashes grew from 126 to 150.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,280 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA234 (18.3%)
10.4%prior 212
2
HONDA184 (14.4%)
-2.1%prior 188
3
FORD116 (9.1%)
-10.8%prior 130
4
NISSAN101 (7.9%)
24.7%prior 81
5
JEEP58 (4.5%)
-22.7%prior 75
6
CHEVROLET57 (4.5%)
-20.8%prior 72
7
SUBARU41 (3.2%)
-6.8%prior 44
8
HYUNDAI33 (2.6%)
-5.7%prior 35
9
MAZDA29 (2.3%)
20.8%prior 24
10
GMC28 (2.2%)
47.4%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (1,278 persons with recorded sex)

Male747 (58.5%)
-6.5%prior 799
Female531 (41.5%)
-1.7%prior 540

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes continued to be concentrated in 30 mph and 50 mph speed zones in both periods. The number of crashes in 50 mph zones increased from 219 to 229, while incidents in 30 mph zones saw a slight decrease from 196 to 191. The single fatal crash in 2024 occurred in a 30 mph zone; in 2025, there were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: SAUGUS, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 636
  • Total persons involved: 1,512
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,280

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). "SAUGUS, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/saugus/2025-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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Saugus, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com