Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

22 CRASHES IN
SOUTH HADLEY, MA
SEPTEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2023

In September 2024, South Hadley recorded 22 total crashes, an 8.33% decrease compared to the 24 crashes reported in September 2023. Total injuries decreased by 33.33%, from 9 to 6. A notable shift includes a 100% increase in DUI crashes, rising from 1 in the prior period to 2 in the current period.

22

-8.3%was 24

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

-33.3%was 9

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 2

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends for September show a slight decrease year-over-year, with total crashes falling from 24 in 2023 to 22 in 2024, representing an 8.33% reduction. Fatalities remained stable at zero in both periods. However, total injuries saw a significant decline of 33.33%, decreasing from 9 injuries in September 2023 to 6 in September 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 8-25.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Tuesday in September 2023 (5 crashes) to Thursday in September 2024 (6 crashes). The peak crash hour also changed, with 2 p.m. having the most crashes (4) in the prior period, while 4 p.m. saw the highest number of crashes (6) in the current period. This indicates a shift in peak crash activity later in the afternoon.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either September 2023 or September 2024. Total injuries decreased from 9 in the prior period to 6 in the current period, a 33.33% reduction. The proportion of "No Injury" crashes increased from 62.5% (15 crashes) in 2023 to 77.3% (17 crashes) in 2024, while "Minor Injury" crashes decreased from 5 (20.8%) to 4 (18.2%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury4minor injury crashes18.2%
-20.0%prior 5
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury17no injury crashes77.3%
13.3%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Inattention remained a leading contributing factor, with its count increasing from 5 crashes in September 2023 to 7 crashes in September 2024, a 40% rise. Crashes attributed to "Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner" decreased by 25% in count, from 4 to 3 crashes. "No improper driving" crashes increased by 25% in count, from 4 to 5, while "Followed too closely" emerged with 2 crashes in the current period, not being a top factor previously.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention7 (31.8%)40.0%prior 5
No improper driving5 (22.7%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (13.6%)
Other improper action3 (13.6%)
Followed too closely2 (9.1%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in "Clear" weather conditions increased from 16 in September 2023 to 18 in September 2024, while "Rain" conditions saw a decrease from 3 to 1 crash. There was a notable shift in road surface conditions, with crashes on "Wet" surfaces decreasing from 7 to 3, and those on "Dry" surfaces increasing from 15 to 19. "Daylight" remained the predominant lighting condition for crashes, with 17 crashes in the current period compared to 18 in the prior period.

Weather

Clear18 (81.8%)
12.5%prior 16
Cloudy3 (13.6%)
Rain1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight17 (77.3%)
-5.6%prior 18
Dark - lighted roadway3 (13.6%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry19 (86.4%)
26.7%prior 15
Wet3 (13.6%)
-57.1%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (40 vehicles)

1
FORD8 (20%)
60.0%prior 5
2
HONDA5 (12.5%)
3
TOYOTA4 (10%)
-33.3%prior 6
4
HYUNDAI4 (10%)
5
CHEVROLET3 (7.5%)
6
BUIC2 (5%)
7
GMC2 (5%)
8
NISSAN2 (5%)
9
DODGE1 (2.5%)
10
CHRYSLER1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (45 persons with recorded sex)

Male27 (60.0%)
22.7%prior 22
Female18 (40.0%)
0.0%prior 18

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph speed zones decreased from 10 in September 2023 to 8 in September 2024. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph speed zones increased from 5 to 8 during the same period. There were no fatal crashes reported across any speed zones in either the current or prior September periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTH HADLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 22
  • Total persons involved: 49
  • Total vehicles involved: 40

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: September 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/south-hadley/september-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 — September 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com