Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

263 CRASHES IN
SOUTH HADLEY, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In South Hadley, total traffic crashes increased by 39.2% year-over-year, rising from 189 in 2023 to 263 in 2024. The most notable shift in the data is this significant increase in total collisions, which occurred even as the number of fatalities dropped from one to zero. Injuries saw a slight decrease from 67 to 63.

263

39.2%was 189

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

63

-6.0%was 67

Persons Injured

18

38.5%was 13

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Crashes in South Hadley are on an upward trend, with a 39.2% increase from 189 incidents in 2023 to 263 in 2024. Despite this rise in total collisions, the number of reported injuries slightly decreased from 67 to 63. Additionally, the single fatality recorded in the prior year was not repeated in the current period.

18

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

38.5% vs prior (13)

The absolute number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 13 in 2023 to 18 in 2024. However, relative to the overall increase in collisions, the hit-and-run rate remained stable. The rate as a percentage of all crashes saw a marginal decrease from 6.9% in the prior period to 6.8% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

55

Motorists Injured

Prior: 64-14.1%

3

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal pattern of crashes shifted slightly year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Tuesday (36 incidents) in the prior period to Monday (42 incidents) in the current period. The peak hour for collisions also shifted slightly earlier, from 5 p.m. (19 crashes) to 4 p.m. (28 crashes).

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes increased, their severity profile changed, with zero fatal crashes recorded in 2024 compared to one in 2023. The count of serious injury crashes more than doubled, increasing from 4 to 9 year-over-year. The largest growth was in no-injury crashes, which rose from 136 to 203, accounting for 77.2% of all incidents in the current period versus 72.0% in the prior period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury9serious injury crashes3.4%
125.0%prior 4
Minor Injury31minor injury crashes11.8%
3.3%prior 30
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes2.7%
-12.5%prior 8
No Injury203no injury crashes77.2%
49.3%prior 136

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Inattention remained the leading contributing factor, with the count of related crashes increasing from 41 to 64. The second-most cited factor, 'No improper driving,' also saw its count more than double from 23 to 47. The top four factors, which also include 'Failed to yield right of way' and 'Followed too closely,' maintained their rank order but all increased in raw counts from the prior year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention64 (24.3%)56.1%prior 41
No improper driving47 (17.9%)104.3%prior 23
Failed to yield right of way23 (8.7%)27.8%prior 18
Followed too closely20 (7.6%)66.7%prior 12
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner13 (4.9%)-13.3%prior 15
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road10 (3.8%)-23.1%prior 13
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings9 (3.4%)
Distracted7 (2.7%)-30.0%prior 10
Other improper action7 (2.7%)
Fatigued/asleep6 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The distribution of crashes by environmental conditions remained largely consistent year-over-year, despite the overall increase in incidents. The majority of collisions in both 2024 and 2023 occurred during daylight (69.6% and 69.8% of crashes, respectively) and on dry road surfaces (79.5% and 75.7% of crashes, respectively). There was no significant proportional shift in crashes occurring under adverse conditions.

Weather

Clear205 (78.8%)
56.5%prior 131
Cloudy23 (8.8%)
27.8%prior 18
Rain13 (5.0%)
8.3%prior 12
Cloudy/Rain4 (1.5%)
-20.0%prior 5
Snow4 (1.5%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (1.2%)
-40.0%prior 5
Snow/Rain3 (1.2%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds1 (0.4%)
Cloudy/Snow1 (0.4%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight183 (70.4%)
38.6%prior 132
Dark - lighted roadway50 (19.2%)
35.1%prior 37
Dusk11 (4.2%)
22.2%prior 9
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (2.3%)
-14.3%prior 7
Dawn5 (1.9%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting5 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry209 (80.4%)
46.2%prior 143
Wet34 (13.1%)
6.3%prior 32
Snow9 (3.5%)
50.0%prior 6
Ice4 (1.5%)
Slush3 (1.2%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The rankings of the most frequently involved vehicle makes changed, with Ford moving from third to first place with 61 vehicles involved, while prior leader Toyota moved to third with 53 vehicles. Analysis of persons involved in crashes shows an increased proportional involvement of the 65+ age group, which accounted for 17.5% of persons in the current period compared to 13.4% in the prior period.

Top Vehicle Makes (464 vehicles)

1
FORD61 (13.1%)
64.9%prior 37
2
HONDA56 (12.1%)
36.6%prior 41
3
TOYOTA53 (11.4%)
26.2%prior 42
4
CHEVROLET47 (10.1%)
135.0%prior 20
5
SUBARU33 (7.1%)
83.3%prior 18
6
NISSAN33 (7.1%)
13.8%prior 29
7
HYUNDAI22 (4.7%)
0.0%prior 22
8
JEEP14 (3%)
75.0%prior 8
9
LEXUS11 (2.4%)
10
KIA11 (2.4%)
37.5%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (521 persons with recorded sex)

Male272 (52.2%)
36.0%prior 200
Female249 (47.8%)
67.1%prior 149

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes increased across most posted speed limit zones, with the 30 mph zone seeing the highest volume in both years (102 in 2024 vs. 81 in 2023). The most significant growth occurred in 40 mph zones, where the crash count more than doubled from 22 to 49. The single fatality recorded in the prior year occurred in a 25 mph zone, while no fatalities were reported in any speed zone in the current year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTH HADLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 263
  • Total persons involved: 583
  • Total vehicles involved: 464

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). "SOUTH HADLEY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/south-hadley/2024-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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South Hadley, MA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com