Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

42 CRASHES IN
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, SOUTHBOROUGH experienced 42 total crashes, an increase of 23.53% compared to the 34 crashes recorded in October 2023. Despite the increase in overall crashes, total injuries decreased from 16 to 14 year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 100% increase in Rear-end collisions, rising from 7 to 14.

42

23.5%was 34

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

14

-12.5%was 16

Persons Injured

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend indicates a notable increase in crash incidents, with total crashes rising by 23.53% from 34 in the prior period to 42 in the current period. This represents an increase of 8 crashes year-over-year. However, total injuries saw a decrease of 12.5%, from 16 to 14.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

0.0% vs prior (1)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 1 in both October 2023 and October 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate decreased slightly from 2.9% in the prior period to 2.4% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

14

Motorists Injured

Prior: 16-12.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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 Tuesday in the prior period (8 crashes) to Thursday in the current period (9 crashes). The peak hour also changed, moving from 6 PM with 4 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 5 crashes in the current period, indicating a shift in peak activity to an earlier afternoon hour.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities and fatal crashes remained at zero in both periods. While total crashes increased, total injuries decreased from 16 in the prior period to 14 in the current period. Serious injuries (Severity A) remained constant at 1 crash in both periods, while minor injuries (Severity B) decreased from 8 to 6 crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.4%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes14.3%
-25.0%prior 8
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes4.8%
100.0%prior 1
No Injury31no injury crashes73.8%
29.2%prior 24

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of 'No improper driving' as a contributing factor increased by 75%, from 8 in the prior period to 14 in the current period. Conversely, 'Inattention' decreased by 42.86%, from 7 to 4 crashes year-over-year. 'Followed too closely' emerged as a significant factor in the current period with 4 crashes, not being a primary factor in the prior period's data.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving14 (33.3%)75.0%prior 8
Inattention4 (9.5%)-42.9%prior 7
Followed too closely4 (9.5%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (2.4%)
Distracted1 (2.4%)
Glare1 (2.4%)
Illness1 (2.4%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.4%)
Made an improper turn1 (2.4%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 26 to 35, while those in rain remained constant at 3. Daylight crashes increased from 17 to 27, whereas crashes in dark-lighted conditions decreased from 10 to 6. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 28 to 37, while wet road crashes decreased from 6 to 4.

Weather

Clear35 (85.4%)
34.6%prior 26
Rain3 (7.3%)
Cloudy2 (4.9%)
Clear/Clear1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight27 (64.3%)
58.8%prior 17
Dark - lighted roadway6 (14.3%)
-40.0%prior 10
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (14.3%)
20.0%prior 5
Dusk2 (4.8%)
Dawn1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry37 (90.2%)
32.1%prior 28
Wet4 (9.8%)
-33.3%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 38.89%, from 54 in the prior period to 75 in the current period. Toyota remained the top vehicle make involved, increasing from 12 to 13, while Honda saw a significant increase from 6 to 11. The 26-34 age group experienced a substantial increase in persons involved, rising from 13 to 21.

Top Vehicle Makes (75 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (17.3%)
8.3%prior 12
2
HONDA11 (14.7%)
83.3%prior 6
3
FORD8 (10.7%)
33.3%prior 6
4
NISSAN5 (6.7%)
5
HYUNDAI5 (6.7%)
6
MAZDA4 (5.3%)
7
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (5.3%)
8
CHEVROLET3 (4%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN3 (4%)
10
JEEP2 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (89 persons with recorded sex)

Female46 (51.7%)
109.1%prior 22
Male43 (48.3%)
-10.4%prior 48

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 50 mph speed zone increased from 13 in the prior period to 21 in the current period. Crashes in the 40 mph speed zone also saw an increase, rising from 1 to 7. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 9 to 4, and 65 mph speed zone crashes decreased from 5 to 4.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTHBOROUGH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 42
  • Total persons involved: 92
  • Total vehicles involved: 75

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). "SOUTHBOROUGH, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/southborough/october-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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Southborough, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com