Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

135,445 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, there were 135,445 total crashes, compared to 135,367 in 2023, representing a marginal increase of less than 0.1%. While the overall crash volume remained stable, the data shows a 5.8% increase in total fatalities, rising from 343 to 363. One of the most notable shifts was a 58.4% increase in crashes occurring on snow, ice, or slush-covered road surfaces.

135,445

▲ 0.1%was 135,367

Total Crash Events

363

▲ 5.8%was 343

Persons Killed

41,887

▼ -0.3%was 42,034

Persons Injured

12,560

▲ 0.6%was 12,491

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (363) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (349) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 6,156 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

Overall crash volume remained stable year-over-year, with a negligible increase of 78 incidents from 135,367 in 2023 to 135,445 in 2024. However, despite the stable crash total, fatalities increased by 5.8%, from 343 to 363. Conversely, the total number of injuries saw a slight decline of 0.4%, from 42,034 to 41,887.

12,560

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

▲ 0.6% vs prior (12,491)

The number of hit-and-run incidents saw a slight increase, rising from 12,491 in 2023 to 12,560 in 2024. This represents a 0.6% increase in the total count of hit-and-run crashes. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all crashes also ticked up slightly from 9.2% to 9.3%, indicating a marginal upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 66↑12.1%

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 8↑25.0%

271

Motorists Killed

Prior: 267↑1.5%

Other Killed

Prior: 2↑300.0%

1,635

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1,629↑0.4%

1,244

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 1,116↑11.5%

38,618

Motorists Injured

Prior: 39,075↓-1.2%

390

Other Injured

Prior: 214↑82.2%

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 patterns of crashes remained highly consistent year-over-year. Friday continued to be the day with the most crashes in both 2024 (21,529) and 2023 (21,135). Similarly, the 4 PM hour was the peak time for crashes in both periods, with an identical count of 10,925 incidents. The overall daily and hourly distributions show no significant shifts between the two years.

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

The severity of crashes saw a negative trend, with fatal crashes increasing from 325 to 349 year-over-year, a 7.4% rise. This pushed the fatal crash rate up from 0.24 to 0.26 per 100 crashes. The proportion of serious injury crashes remained stable at 1.8% of all incidents, though the count decreased slightly from 2,427 to 2,374. Minor injury crashes saw a slight increase in both count (from 18,735 to 19,083) and share of total crashes (from 13.8% to 14.1%).

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 349 fatal crash events resulted in 363 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal349fatal crashes0.3%

↑7.4%prior 325

Serious Injury2,374serious injury crashes1.8%

↓-2.2%prior 2,427

Minor Injury19,083minor injury crashes14.1%

↑1.9%prior 18,735

Possible Injury9,656possible injury crashes7.1%

↓-1.2%prior 9,770

No Injury97,827no injury crashes72.2%

↑1.8%prior 96,058

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

The leading contributing factors to crashes remained consistent, with 'Inattention' (18,473 incidents), 'Failed to yield right of way' (14,484), and 'Followed too closely' (12,609) retaining their top ranks from the prior year. The counts for these top factors saw minimal changes. Notably, crashes where a driver was cited as 'Distracted' decreased by 10.6% in count, from 3,090 incidents in 2023 to 2,762 in 2024. Conversely, the count of crashes related to 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased by 3.7% over the same period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving32,971 (24.3%)↑1.1%prior 32,619

Inattention18,473 (13.6%)↑1.4%prior 18,218

Failed to yield right of way14,484 (10.7%)↑0.1%prior 14,469

Followed too closely12,609 (9.3%)↑2.6%prior 12,288

Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6,402 (4.7%)↑3.1%prior 6,210

Other improper action4,152 (3.1%)↑0.8%prior 4,119

Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner4,136 (3.1%)↓-4.6%prior 4,337

Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4,004 (3%)↑13.5%prior 3,528

Driving too fast for conditions3,569 (2.6%)↑3.7%prior 3,442

Distracted2,762 (2%)↓-10.6%prior 3,090

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

Analysis of conditions reveals a significant shift in crashes occurring on adverse road surfaces. Crashes on snow, ice, or slush surfaces increased from 4,271 in 2023 to 6,764 in 2024, a 58.4% rise in count. Conversely, crashes on wet roads decreased by 18.3% from 23,650 to 19,323. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight increased slightly from 66.6% to 67.7% of all crashes.

Weather

Clear86,613 (65.0%)

↑1.9%prior 85,001

Cloudy10,519 (7.9%)

↓-10.4%prior 11,738

Clear/Clear10,267 (7.7%)

↑25.4%prior 8,190

Rain8,233 (6.2%)

↓-19.6%prior 10,235

Snow2,786 (2.1%)

↑35.4%prior 2,057

Cloudy/Rain2,698 (2.0%)

↓-24.2%prior 3,561

Clear/Cloudy2,008 (1.5%)

↓-5.2%prior 2,118

Rain/Cloudy1,307 (1.0%)

↓-15.5%prior 1,546

Clear/Unknown1,153 (0.9%)

↑4.1%prior 1,108

Clear/Other1,093 (0.8%)

↑16.5%prior 938

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

Lighting

Daylight91,687 (68.4%)

↑1.7%prior 90,187

Dark - lighted roadway27,121 (20.2%)

↓-4.6%prior 28,424

Dark - roadway not lighted7,802 (5.8%)

↓-1.1%prior 7,892

Dusk3,842 (2.9%)

↓-3.1%prior 3,963

Dawn2,433 (1.8%)

↑3.0%prior 2,362

Dark - unknown roadway lighting932 (0.7%)

↑3.6%prior 900

Other153 (0.1%)

↓-6.7%prior 164

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

Road Surface

Dry106,775 (80.1%)

↑1.6%prior 105,117

Wet19,323 (14.5%)

↓-18.3%prior 23,650

Snow4,316 (3.2%)

↑57.4%prior 2,742

Ice1,748 (1.3%)

↑57.8%prior 1,108

Slush700 (0.5%)

↑66.3%prior 421

Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel231 (0.2%)

↑12.1%prior 206

Water (standing, moving)103 (0.1%)

↓-36.0%prior 161

Other74 (0.1%)

↓-6.3%prior 79

Reported but invalid7 (0.0%)

↓-72.0%prior 25

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes remained unchanged, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford being the most common in both periods. Analysis of persons involved in crashes shows a demographic shift, with a 3.4% increase in individuals aged 65 and older, from 33,121 to 34,248. In contrast, the 16-20 age group saw a slight decrease in involvement, from 30,544 to 29,897 individuals.

Top Vehicle Makes (251,587 vehicles)

TOYOTA42,242 (16.8%)

↑2.4%prior 41,233

HONDA32,623 (13%)

↑0.6%prior 32,430

FORD25,944 (10.3%)

↓-1.5%prior 26,347

CHEVROLET17,299 (6.9%)

↓-1.4%prior 17,540

NISSAN15,451 (6.1%)

↓-4.6%prior 16,188

JEEP11,542 (4.6%)

↓-0.3%prior 11,575

SUBARU10,384 (4.1%)

↑7.5%prior 9,656

HYUNDAI9,957 (4%)

↑1.2%prior 9,842

KIA6,111 (2.4%)

↑4.7%prior 5,839

GMC5,461 (2.2%)

↑0.1%prior 5,455

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

32,164 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (277,415 persons with recorded sex)

Male158,320 (57.1%)

↑2.1%prior 155,062

Female119,016 (42.9%)

↓-1.5%prior 120,832

X / Unspecified79 (0.0%)

↓-24.8%prior 105

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 in 25 mph zones increased by 8.7% year-over-year, from 26,562 to 28,875, though the number of fatal crashes in this zone remained unchanged at 54. Crashes in higher speed zones like 55 mph and 65 mph saw decreases in count of 6.2% and 3.5%, respectively. The fatality rate within some zones shifted significantly; the rate in 45 mph zones increased from 0.37% to 0.67%, and in 50 mph zones, it increased from 0.33% to 0.82%.

Fatal crashes by zone: 5 mph: 1 of 1,865 (0.054%) · 15 mph: 2 of 2,180 (0.092%) · 20 mph: 6 of 3,920 (0.153%) · 25 mph: 54 of 28,875 (0.187%) · 30 mph: 65 of 35,947 (0.181%) · 35 mph: 53 of 17,572 (0.302%) · 40 mph: 29 of 9,755 (0.297%) · 45 mph: 32 of 4,790 (0.668%) · 50 mph: 25 of 3,065 (0.816%) · 55 mph: 17 of 6,309 (0.269%) · 60 mph: 6 of 596 (1.007%) · 65 mph: 39 of 8,647 (0.451%)

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: massachusetts, MA
Total crash records analyzed: 135,445
Total persons involved: 313,588
Total vehicles involved: 251,587

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). "massachusetts, 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/statewide/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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135,445 CRASHES INMASSACHUSETTS, MA2024