Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

21 CRASHES IN
SAUGUS, MA
MARCH 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2025

In March 2026, Saugus experienced 21 crashes, marking a significant 58.82% decrease from the 51 crashes reported in March 2025. Despite this overall reduction in crash volume, a notable shift occurred with fatalities increasing from zero in the prior period to one in the current period.

21

▼ -58.8%was 51

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

13

▼ -18.8%was 16

Persons Injured

0

▼ -100.0%was 7

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a substantial decrease in total crashes in Saugus, with a 58.82% reduction from March 2025 to March 2026. This period saw total crashes fall from 51 to 21.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0→0.0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 16↓-18.8%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · 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 year-over-year. In March 2025, Monday was the peak day with 10 crashes, whereas in March 2026, crashes were evenly distributed with 4 crashes each on Sunday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The peak crash hour also moved, from 4 PM with 5 crashes in March 2025 to 2 PM, 3 PM, and 6 PM each having 3 crashes in March 2026.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity saw a notable change, with one fatal crash occurring in March 2026, compared to zero fatal crashes in March 2025. This resulted in the fatal crash rate increasing from 0% to 4.76% of all crashes. The number of crashes resulting in any injury (serious, minor, or possible) slightly decreased from 11 in March 2025 to 9 in March 2026.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes4.8%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4.8%
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes33.3%
↓-30.0%prior 10
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4.8%
→0.0%prior 1
No Injury11no injury crashes52.4%
↓-71.8%prior 39

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw shifts in crash counts. Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased by 12, from 22 in March 2025 to 10 in March 2026, representing a 54.5% reduction. Similarly, 'Followed too closely' crashes decreased by 6 (75% reduction), from 8 to 2, and 'Inattention' crashes decreased by 1 (25% reduction), from 4 to 3. Conversely, crashes involving 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' increased by 1 (100% increase), from 1 to 2.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving10 (47.6%)↓-54.5%prior 22
Inattention3 (14.3%)
Followed too closely2 (9.5%)↓-75.0%prior 8
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (9.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (9.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions represented a larger share of total crashes in March 2026 at 71.4% (15 crashes), compared to 64.7% (33 crashes) in March 2025. There was a proportional increase in crashes on wet or snowy road surfaces, accounting for 23.8% (5 crashes) in March 2026 versus 11.8% (6 crashes) in March 2025. The proportion of crashes occurring during daylight remained stable at approximately 71% in both periods.

Weather

Clear15 (71.4%)
↓-54.5%prior 33
Clear/Clear2 (9.5%)
↓-71.4%prior 7
Clear/Cloudy1 (4.8%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (4.8%)
Snow/Rain1 (4.8%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (71.4%)
↓-58.3%prior 36
Dark - lighted roadway4 (19.0%)
↓-69.2%prior 13
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (4.8%)
Dusk1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry16 (76.2%)
↓-64.4%prior 45
Wet4 (19.0%)
↓-33.3%prior 6
Snow1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (46 vehicles)

1
HONDA9 (19.6%)
↓-50.0%prior 18
2
FORD6 (13%)
↓-57.1%prior 14
3
TOYOTA4 (8.7%)
↓-55.6%prior 9
4
NISSAN4 (8.7%)
↓-33.3%prior 6
5
CHEVROLET3 (6.5%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
6
KIA3 (6.5%)
7
JEEP2 (4.3%)
↓-75.0%prior 8
8
MAZDA2 (4.3%)
9
FRHT2 (4.3%)
10
HYUNDAI2 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (53 persons with recorded sex)

Male29 (54.7%)
↓-47.3%prior 55
Female24 (45.3%)
↓-48.9%prior 47

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 13 in March 2025 to 10 in March 2026, a reduction of 3 crashes. A more substantial decrease was observed in the 50 mph speed zone, where crashes fell from 19 to 7, a reduction of 12 crashes. Notably, the 50 mph zone, which had no fatal crashes in March 2025, recorded 1 fatal crash in March 2026, leading to a fatal rate of 14.286% for crashes in that zone.

Fatal crashes by zone: 50 mph: 1 of 7 (14.286%)

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-03-01 through 2026-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SAUGUS, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 21
  • Total persons involved: 55
  • Total vehicles involved: 46

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