Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

16 CRASHES IN
SOUTH HADLEY, MA
APRIL 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2023

In April 2024, South Hadley experienced 16 total crashes, a 60% increase compared to the 10 crashes recorded in April 2023. The most notable shift was the absence of fatalities in April 2024, down from 1 fatality in April 2023, alongside a significant decrease in total injuries from 10 to 3.

16

60.0%was 10

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

3

-70.0%was 10

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

Fatal Crash Events

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a rise in total crashes, increasing by 60% from 10 crashes in April 2023 to 16 crashes in April 2024. Despite this increase in crash volume, there was a substantial decrease in both fatalities and injuries year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 10-70.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Friday, increasing from 3 crashes in April 2023 to 5 crashes in April 2024. The peak hour also remained 4p, with crashes increasing from 3 in April 2023 to 4 in April 2024. Overall, the temporal patterns for peak activity remained consistent, though with higher crash counts in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes decreased from 1 in April 2023 to 0 in April 2024. Minor injury crashes dropped from 5 to 1, and possible injury crashes remained stable at 1. Conversely, crashes with no reported injury significantly increased from 3 in April 2023 to 14 in April 2024, indicating a shift towards less severe outcomes despite more crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury1minor injury crashes6.3%
-80.0%prior 5
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes6.3%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury14no injury crashes87.5%
366.7%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor in April 2024 was 'Inattention' with 7 crashes, a factor not listed among the top contributors in April 2023. Factors like 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' and 'Failed to yield right of way' each decreased from 2 crashes in April 2023 to 1 crash in April 2024. 'No improper driving' increased from 1 crash to 2 crashes year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention7 (43.8%)
No improper driving2 (12.5%)
Followed too closely1 (6.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (6.3%)
Made an improper turn1 (6.3%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (6.3%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (6.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather increased from 7 in April 2023 to 10 in April 2024. Crashes during 'Daylight' conditions also rose from 8 to 14 year-over-year, while those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 2 to 1. The number of crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased from 8 to 12, and 'Wet' road crashes increased from 2 to 3.

Weather

Clear10 (62.5%)
42.9%prior 7
Cloudy2 (12.5%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (12.5%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (6.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (6.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight14 (87.5%)
75.0%prior 8
Dark - lighted roadway1 (6.3%)
Dusk1 (6.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry12 (75.0%)
50.0%prior 8
Wet3 (18.8%)
Slush1 (6.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (29 vehicles)

1
SUBARU4 (13.8%)
2
CHEVROLET4 (13.8%)
3
TOYOTA3 (10.3%)
4
FORD3 (10.3%)
-40.0%prior 5
5
NISSAN2 (6.9%)
6
HONDA2 (6.9%)
7
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (6.9%)
8
MAZDA1 (3.4%)
9
AUDI1 (3.4%)
10
BMW1 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (32 persons with recorded sex)

Female16 (50.0%)
100.0%prior 8
Male16 (50.0%)
23.1%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph zone increased from 2 in April 2023 to 4 in April 2024, and those in the 30 mph zone saw a significant rise from 1 to 7 crashes. Crashes in the 35 mph zone decreased from 2 to 1, while the 40 mph zone remained stable with 3 crashes in both periods. The single fatal crash in April 2023 occurred in a 25 mph zone, with no fatalities recorded across any speed zone in April 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTH HADLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 16
  • Total persons involved: 35
  • Total vehicles involved: 29

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: April 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/south-hadley/april-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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South Hadley, MA Crash Report — April 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com