Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

9,376 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
FEBRUARY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2023

In February 2024, there were 9,376 total crashes, a slight increase of 0.5% from the 9,327 crashes recorded in February 2023. While the overall crash volume remained stable, the number of fatalities saw a significant year-over-year decrease. Total fatalities fell from 31 in the prior period to 20 in the current period, a reduction of 35.5%.

9,376

0.5%was 9,327

Total Crash Events

20

-35.5%was 31

Persons Killed

2,662

0.8%was 2,640

Persons Injured

872

0.9%was 864

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (20) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (20) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 481 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall crash trend between February 2023 and February 2024 remained stable, with total crashes increasing by a marginal 0.5% from 9,327 to 9,376. The number of injuries also saw a minimal change, rising by 0.8% from 2,640 to 2,662. In contrast, total fatalities decreased by 35.5%, from 31 to 20, marking a notable reduction in fatal outcomes year-over-year.

872

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2024

0.9% vs prior (864)

The occurrence of hit-and-run incidents remained remarkably stable between February 2023 and February 2024. The total count of hit-and-run crashes saw a negligible increase from 864 to 872. The hit-and-run rate as a percentage of total crashes was unchanged, holding steady at 9.3% for both periods, indicating no significant year-over-year trend in this category.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

7

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 8-12.5%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

13

Motorists Killed

Prior: 23-43.5%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

126

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1186.8%

43

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 3522.9%

2,482

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2,4760.2%

11

Other Injured

Prior: 110.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes were consistent year-over-year. In both February 2024 and February 2023, Thursday was the peak day for crashes, with 1,806 and 1,657 incidents, respectively. The 3 p.m. hour remained the peak time for collisions in both periods, accounting for 758 crashes in the current period and 709 in the prior. The overall distribution of crashes by day of the week and hour of the day did not show significant shifts between the two years.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes saw a positive shift, with the fatal crash rate decreasing from 0.31% in February 2023 to 0.21% in February 2024. The absolute number of fatal crashes fell from 29 to 20. The proportion of serious injury crashes remained stable at 1.5% for both periods. Crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased slightly from 12.7% to 12.2% of all incidents, while crashes with possible injuries increased from 6.9% to 7.4%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal20fatal crashes0.2%
-31.0%prior 29
Serious Injury142serious injury crashes1.5%
2.9%prior 138
Minor Injury1,144minor injury crashes12.2%
-3.5%prior 1,185
Possible Injury690possible injury crashes7.4%
8.0%prior 639
No Injury6,899no injury crashes73.6%
1.7%prior 6,783

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent, with 'Inattention' (1,308 crashes), 'Failed to yield right of way' (1,086 crashes), and 'Followed too closely' (826 crashes) being the top driver-related causes in February 2024, following 'No improper driving'. However, the counts for these factors increased year-over-year; for example, crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' rose by 20.8% from 899 to 1,086. A significant change was observed in crashes related to 'Driving too fast for conditions', which decreased by 60.8% from 418 incidents in the prior year to 164 in the current period. This factor's share of crashes dropped from 4.5% to 1.7%.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving2,209 (23.6%)-7.0%prior 2,375
Inattention1,308 (14%)12.6%prior 1,162
Failed to yield right of way1,086 (11.6%)20.8%prior 899
Followed too closely826 (8.8%)15.2%prior 717
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road443 (4.7%)7.0%prior 414
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings291 (3.1%)20.7%prior 241
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner281 (3%)-2.1%prior 287
Other improper action279 (3%)0.7%prior 277
Distracted178 (1.9%)-6.8%prior 191
Driving too fast for conditions164 (1.7%)-60.8%prior 418

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions shifted notably towards clearer weather and drier roads in February 2024 compared to the previous year. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 6,694 to 7,883, representing 84.1% of all crashes versus 71.8% in the prior period. Correspondingly, crashes on adverse surfaces like snow and ice saw a significant reduction; incidents on icy roads dropped from 457 to 90. In terms of lighting, crashes during daylight hours increased from 5,423 to 5,855, while those in dark conditions, both lighted and unlighted, decreased.

Weather

Clear6,547 (70.9%)
17.6%prior 5,567
Cloudy732 (7.9%)
-11.3%prior 825
Clear/Clear640 (6.9%)
23.3%prior 519
Rain269 (2.9%)
-0.7%prior 271
Snow228 (2.5%)
-57.2%prior 533
Clear/Cloudy147 (1.6%)
2.1%prior 144
Clear/Unknown90 (1.0%)
36.4%prior 66
Cloudy/Rain82 (0.9%)
-31.7%prior 120
Clear/Other77 (0.8%)
11.6%prior 69
Cloudy/Snow50 (0.5%)
-46.8%prior 94

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight5,855 (63.1%)
8.0%prior 5,423
Dark - lighted roadway2,340 (25.2%)
-9.2%prior 2,576
Dark - roadway not lighted550 (5.9%)
-12.3%prior 627
Dusk306 (3.3%)
7.4%prior 285
Dawn166 (1.8%)
-21.7%prior 212
Dark - unknown roadway lighting56 (0.6%)
-30.0%prior 80
Other11 (0.1%)
10.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry7,883 (85.4%)
17.8%prior 6,694
Wet890 (9.6%)
-26.0%prior 1,203
Snow324 (3.5%)
-53.5%prior 697
Ice90 (1.0%)
-80.3%prior 457
Slush20 (0.2%)
-85.0%prior 133
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel17 (0.2%)
30.8%prior 13
Other7 (0.1%)
0.0%prior 7
Water (standing, moving)2 (0.0%)
Reported but invalid1 (0.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes, including Toyota, Honda, and Ford, remained consistent in rank and volume between February 2023 and February 2024. Analysis of persons involved shows a stable demographic distribution across most age groups. However, there was a noticeable increase in the involvement of individuals aged 65 and older, whose count rose from 2,040 to 2,303, and their share of all persons involved increased from 9.7% to 10.6% year-over-year.

Top Vehicle Makes (17,411 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA3,015 (17.3%)
4.3%prior 2,891
2
HONDA2,334 (13.4%)
5.7%prior 2,209
3
FORD1,737 (10%)
-1.0%prior 1,755
4
CHEVROLET1,231 (7.1%)
7.4%prior 1,146
5
NISSAN1,094 (6.3%)
-4.1%prior 1,141
6
JEEP800 (4.6%)
3.0%prior 777
7
SUBARU768 (4.4%)
15.3%prior 666
8
HYUNDAI714 (4.1%)
5.6%prior 676
9
KIA434 (2.5%)
12.4%prior 386
10
GMC344 (2%)
-3.6%prior 357

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Vehicle unit records

2,328 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (19,007 persons with recorded sex)

Male10,719 (56.4%)
1.1%prior 10,601
Female8,278 (43.6%)
4.9%prior 7,893
X / Unspecified10 (0.1%)
233.3%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in lower-speed urban zones saw an increase, with incidents in 25 mph zones rising from 1,773 to 1,946 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes in higher-speed zones of 55 mph and 65 mph decreased from 480 to 430 and 619 to 534, respectively. Despite an overall drop in total fatalities, the number of fatalities in 25 mph zones doubled from 3 to 6. Fatalities in 30 mph, 40 mph, and 65 mph zones all saw decreases compared to the prior year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 6 of 1,946 (0.308%) · 30 mph: 4 of 2,571 (0.156%) · 35 mph: 2 of 1,215 (0.165%) · 40 mph: 2 of 636 (0.314%) · 45 mph: 1 of 329 (0.304%) · 50 mph: 2 of 187 (1.07%) · 55 mph: 1 of 430 (0.233%) · 65 mph: 2 of 534 (0.375%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29 · 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: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-02-01 through 2024-02-29 (29 days)
  • Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 9,376
  • Total persons involved: 21,651
  • Total vehicles involved: 17,411

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: February 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2024-02-29. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/february-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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