ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · JANUARY 2026
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/january-2026-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
12,041 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
JANUARY 2026
In January 2026, there were 12,041 total crashes, a 5.8% increase from the 11,386 crashes recorded in January 2025. Despite the rise in overall incidents, the most notable year-over-year change was a significant 54.8% decrease in traffic fatalities, which fell from 31 to 14.
12,041
▲ 5.8%was 11,386
Total Crash Events
14
▼ -54.8%was 31
Persons Killed
3,015
▼ -7.9%was 3,274
Persons Injured
1,069
▲ 5.8%was 1,010
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (14) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (14) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 443 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Crash trends show an increase in total incidents year-over-year, rising from 11,386 to 12,041. However, the severity of these crashes has decreased, with total injuries falling by 7.9% from 3,274 to 3,015 and total fatalities dropping by 54.8% from 31 to 14. This indicates a rise in lower-severity collisions compared to the same period last year.
1,069
Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2026
▲ 5.8% vs prior (1,010)
The total number of hit-and-run crashes increased by 5.8%, from 1,010 in January 2025 to 1,069 in January 2026. This increase is proportional to the overall rise in total crashes for the period. As a result, the hit-and-run rate remained stable, accounting for 8.9% of all crashes in both years.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
6
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
8
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
102
Pedestrians Injured
39
Cyclists Injured
2,864
Motorists Injured
10
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday (1,867 crashes) in the prior period to Thursday (2,190 crashes) in the current period. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions shifted from the morning commute at 8 a.m. (908 crashes) to the afternoon at 2 p.m. (940 crashes).
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The severity of crashes decreased compared to the previous year. The fatal crash rate was more than halved, dropping from 0.27% of all crashes in January 2025 to 0.12% in January 2026. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury also declined, from 21.8% of all crashes in the prior period to 19.0% in the current period.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The top three contributing factors remained consistent across both periods: 'No improper driving,' 'Inattention,' and 'Failed to yield right of way.' However, there were notable shifts in the counts of other factors. Crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased by 41.5%, from 499 incidents to 706. Similarly, crashes involving 'Swerving or avoiding' grew by 41.5%, from 260 to 368 incidents.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
There was a significant year-over-year shift in the conditions under which crashes occurred. In January 2026, incidents on snowy roads more than doubled, increasing from 1,288 to 2,835, and their share of all crashes rose from 11.3% to 23.5%. Correspondingly, crashes on dry roads saw a proportional decrease, accounting for 50.4% of incidents compared to 69.1% in the prior year.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Vehicle and person demographics involved in crashes remained largely stable year-over-year. The top three vehicle makes involved in collisions were unchanged, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford leading in both periods. Furthermore, the age distribution of persons involved in crashes showed no significant shifts between January 2025 and January 2026.
Top Vehicle Makes (21,772 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,796 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (23,574 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Year-over-year data shows a shift in crashes toward higher speed zones. The number of crashes in 55-65 mph zones increased by 22.5%, from 991 to 1,214. Despite this increase in volume, the fatality rate in the 65 mph zone decreased significantly, from 7 fatal crashes (a 1.23% rate) in the prior period to 1 fatal crash (a 0.13% rate) in the current period.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 2 of 2,792 (0.072%) · 30 mph: 2 of 3,174 (0.063%) · 35 mph: 2 of 1,398 (0.143%) · 40 mph: 1 of 913 (0.11%) · 50 mph: 3 of 243 (1.235%) · 55 mph: 1 of 453 (0.221%) · 65 mph: 1 of 761 (0.131%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · 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: 2026-01-01 through 2026-01-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2026-01-01 through 2026-01-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 12,041
- Total persons involved: 26,564
- Total vehicles involved: 21,772
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: January 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/january-2026-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: 2026-01-01 – 2026-01-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved