ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · AUGUST 2024
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/statewide/august-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
10,942 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
AUGUST 2024
In August 2024, Massachusetts recorded 10,942 traffic crashes, a figure nearly identical to the 10,932 crashes reported in August 2023, representing a year-over-year increase of less than 0.1%. Despite the stability in total crash volume, the number of fatalities rose significantly. There were 39 fatalities in August 2024, a 25.8% increase from the 31 fatalities documented in the same month of the previous year.
10,942
▲ 0.1%was 10,932
Total Crash Events
39
▲ 25.8%was 31
Persons Killed
3,659
▲ 1.0%was 3,621
Persons Injured
1,088
▲ 5.8%was 1,028
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (39) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (38) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 495 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
The overall number of traffic crashes remained stable year-over-year, increasing by only 10 incidents from 10,932 in August 2023 to 10,942 in August 2024. However, the severity of these crashes worsened, as total injuries saw a slight increase of 1.1% and fatalities increased by 25.8%. This indicates a trend of stable crash frequency but rising negative outcomes.
1,088
Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2024
▲ 5.8% vs prior (1,028)
Hit-and-run incidents increased in both absolute numbers and as a proportion of total crashes. The count of hit-and-run crashes rose from 1,028 in August 2023 to 1,088 in August 2024, an increase of 5.8%. This outpaced the minimal growth in total crashes, causing the hit-and-run rate to climb from 9.4% to 9.9% over the same period.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
9
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
30
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
99
Pedestrians Injured
164
Cyclists Injured
3,344
Motorists Injured
52
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal patterns of crashes showed a shift between August 2023 and August 2024. The peak day for crashes moved from Wednesday (1,873 crashes) in the prior year to Friday (1,910 crashes) in the current year. While the peak hour for collisions remained consistent at 4 p.m. in both periods, the daily distribution changed, with crashes becoming more concentrated on Thursday and Friday in 2024 compared to a mid-week peak in 2023.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
While total crashes were stable, their severity profile shifted year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes rose from 31 to 38, and the fatality rate per 100 crashes increased from 0.28 to 0.35. Conversely, crashes resulting in serious injuries decreased from 251 to 222. Crashes involving possible injuries increased from 737 to 793, while the proportion of no-injury crashes also grew from 69.5% to 70.7% of all incidents.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 38 fatal crash events resulted in 39 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent between August 2023 and August 2024, with 'Inattention' and 'Failed to yield right of way' as top reported factors in both periods. However, the counts for these factors shifted; crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 97, from 1,579 to 1,676, while those involving 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 93, from 1,257 to 1,164. Notably, crashes where 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' was a factor saw a 25.8% increase in count, rising from 132 to 166.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Environmental conditions during crashes were generally more favorable in August 2024 compared to the previous year. The proportion of crashes occurring on wet road surfaces decreased from 14.6% to 12.0%, corresponding to a drop in rain-related crashes from 752 to 597. Consequently, crashes on dry roads increased from 83.6% to 86.1% of the total. Lighting conditions remained largely unchanged, with daylight crashes accounting for approximately 76.5% of all incidents in both periods.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The demographic profile of vehicles and persons involved in crashes showed minor shifts. The top five vehicle makes involved in collisions—Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, and Nissan—remained the same in both August 2023 and August 2024. Analysis of persons involved reveals a slight aging trend; the number of individuals in the 16-20 age group decreased from 2,621 to 2,359, while those aged 65 and older increased slightly from 2,943 to 2,960.
Top Vehicle Makes (20,512 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,635 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (22,718 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes became more frequent in both low and high-speed zones year-over-year. Incidents in 25 mph zones rose from 2,256 to 2,353, and crashes in 65 mph zones increased from 699 to 743. The distribution of fatal crashes also shifted; zones with a 30 mph speed limit saw fatalities triple from 3 to 9. Conversely, fatalities in 35 mph zones were halved, decreasing from 6 to 3.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 5 of 2,353 (0.212%) · 30 mph: 9 of 2,904 (0.31%) · 35 mph: 3 of 1,386 (0.216%) · 40 mph: 4 of 767 (0.522%) · 45 mph: 3 of 404 (0.743%) · 50 mph: 3 of 232 (1.293%) · 55 mph: 3 of 530 (0.566%) · 60 mph: 1 of 61 (1.639%) · 65 mph: 6 of 743 (0.808%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31 · 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: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-08-01 through 2024-08-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 10,942
- Total persons involved: 25,751
- Total vehicles involved: 20,512
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: August 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-08-01 to 2024-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/august-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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2024-08-01 – 2024-08-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved