Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

27 CRASHES IN
SOMERVILLE, MA
MARCH 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2024

Total crashes in Somerville decreased by 51.8%, from 56 in March 2024 to 27 in March 2025. This significant reduction in overall incidents marks the most notable year-over-year shift. However, hit-and-run crashes increased by 300% during the same period, rising from 1 to 4.

27

-51.8%was 56

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

-23.1%was 13

Persons Injured

4

300.0%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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Somerville showed a significant downward trend, decreasing by 51.8% from 56 incidents in March 2024 to 27 incidents in March 2025. This represents a substantial reduction in crash frequency year-over-year. There were no fatalities in either period, and total injuries also saw a slight decrease.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2025

300.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly, rising from 1 incident in March 2024 to 4 incidents in March 2025, a 300% increase. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate surged from 1.8% of all crashes in the prior period to 14.8% in the current period. This indicates a clear upward trend in hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1300.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 10-50.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · 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 Wednesday with 12 incidents in March 2024 to Friday with 6 incidents in March 2025. The peak hour also changed, moving from 8 PM with 4 crashes in the prior period to 6 PM with 6 crashes in the current period. All days of the week experienced a decrease in crash counts year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either March 2024 or March 2025. Total injuries decreased from 13 to 10 year-over-year, despite the total number of crashes decreasing by 51.8%. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Minor or Possible) increased from 21.4% (12 of 56 crashes) in the prior period to 33.3% (9 of 27 crashes) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury6minor injury crashes22.2%
20.0%prior 5
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes11.1%
-50.0%prior 6
No Injury17no injury crashes63%
-60.5%prior 43

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 11 to 7, while 'Followed too closely' decreased from 11 to 4 crashes. 'Driving too fast for conditions' saw a reduction from 4 crashes to 0. Conversely, 'Glare' appeared as a contributing factor in 1 crash in the current period, compared to 0 in the prior period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving7 (25.9%)-36.4%prior 11
Followed too closely4 (14.8%)-63.6%prior 11
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (7.4%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (7.4%)
Inattention1 (3.7%)
Made an improper turn1 (3.7%)
Glare1 (3.7%)
Other improper action1 (3.7%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 33 (29 Clear + 4 Clear/Clear) in the prior period to 23 (8 Clear + 15 Clear/Clear) in the current period. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 43 to 24. Incidents during daylight hours also saw a reduction from 34 to 15.

Weather

Clear/Clear15 (55.6%)
Clear8 (29.6%)
-72.4%prior 29
Rain2 (7.4%)
-77.8%prior 9
Fog, smog, smoke1 (3.7%)
Rain/Rain1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (55.6%)
-55.9%prior 34
Dark - lighted roadway11 (40.7%)
-38.9%prior 18
Dusk1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry24 (88.9%)
-44.2%prior 43
Wet3 (11.1%)
-76.9%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota remained a frequently involved make, though its count decreased from 17 vehicles in March 2024 to 11 vehicles in March 2025. Honda, which was the most involved make in the prior period with 22 vehicles, saw a significant decrease to 2 vehicles in the current period. Nissan and Ford also experienced decreases in involvement, from 5 to 6 and 14 to 5 vehicles respectively.

Top Vehicle Makes (52 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA11 (21.2%)
-35.3%prior 17
2
NISSAN6 (11.5%)
20.0%prior 5
3
FORD5 (9.6%)
-64.3%prior 14
4
JEEP5 (9.6%)
-37.5%prior 8
5
HYUNDAI4 (7.7%)
-20.0%prior 5
6
SUBARU3 (5.8%)
7
HONDA2 (3.8%)
-90.9%prior 22
8
ACURA2 (3.8%)
9
RAM1 (1.9%)
10
SPTN1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (60 persons with recorded sex)

Male35 (58.3%)
-52.1%prior 73
Female25 (41.7%)
-40.5%prior 42

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph zones saw the largest decrease, falling from 28 incidents in March 2024 to 11 in March 2025. Conversely, crashes in 20 mph zones increased from 7 to 9, and in 30 mph zones from 2 to 3. All speed zones continued to report 0 fatalities in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31 · 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: 2025-03-01 through 2025-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-03-01 through 2025-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOMERVILLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 27
  • Total persons involved: 69
  • Total vehicles involved: 52

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). "SOMERVILLE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-03-01 to 2025-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/somerville/march-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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Somerville, MA Crash Report — March 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com