ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · OCTOBER 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/october-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
11,908 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
OCTOBER 2024
In October 2024, Massachusetts recorded 11,908 traffic crashes, representing a 5.6% decrease from the 12,618 crashes reported in October 2023. While total crashes, injuries, and fatalities all saw slight year-over-year declines, the most significant shift was a nearly 50% reduction in crashes attributed to 'driving too fast for conditions', which fell from 233 incidents to 117.
11,908
▼ -5.6%was 12,618
Total Crash Events
32
▼ -3.0%was 33
Persons Killed
3,895
▼ -0.9%was 3,932
Persons Injured
1,026
▼ -14.9%was 1,205
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (32) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (32) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 456 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
Traffic safety metrics in October showed a general improvement compared to the previous year. The total number of crashes fell by 5.6%, from 12,618 in October 2023 to 11,908 in October 2024. Correspondingly, total reported injuries decreased by 0.9% from 3,932 to 3,895, while total fatalities declined from 33 to 32.
1,026
Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024
▼ -14.9% vs prior (1,205)
The incidence of hit-and-run crashes saw a notable decrease in October 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. The total number of hit-and-run incidents fell by 14.9%, from 1,205 to 1,026. This decline was also reflected in the hit-and-run rate, which dropped from 9.5% of all crashes in the prior year to 8.6% in the current period, indicating a downward trend.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
6
Pedestrians Killed
2
Cyclists Killed
24
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
180
Pedestrians Injured
151
Cyclists Injured
3,508
Motorists Injured
56
Other Injured
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 temporal patterns of crashes shifted slightly between the two periods. In October 2024, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 2,020 incidents, a change from Tuesday in the prior year which saw 2,089 crashes. The busiest time of day also moved one hour later, with the peak hour for crashes shifting from 3 PM in 2023 (992 crashes) to 4 PM in 2024 (1,014 crashes).
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
The number of fatal crashes remained unchanged at 32 for both October 2024 and October 2023, though the fatal crash rate per 100 crashes increased slightly from 0.25 to 0.27 due to the lower overall crash volume. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury increased from 22.9% to 24.3% year-over-year. This was driven by a rise in the share of minor injury crashes, which grew from 14.2% to 15.2% of all incidents.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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 leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with 'Inattention' and 'Failed to yield right of way' as the top reported driver errors in both periods. While the count for 'Inattention' was nearly unchanged (1,668 vs. 1,670), other factors saw significant shifts. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' decreased by 12.7% in count, from 1,245 to 1,087, and crashes related to 'Driving too fast for conditions' dropped by 49.8% from 233 incidents to 117.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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
Environmental conditions played a different role in crashes compared to the prior year, primarily due to weather. Crashes occurring on wet road surfaces decreased dramatically from 2,000 in October 2023 to 764 in October 2024, a 61.8% drop. Correspondingly, the share of crashes in rainy conditions fell from 11.4% to 3.6%. As a result, a larger proportion of crashes in October 2024 occurred in daylight (67.3% vs. 64.3%) and on dry roads (91.8% vs. 82.7%).
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The profile of vehicles and persons involved in crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year. The top three vehicle makes involved in collisions were Toyota, Honda, and Ford in both October 2024 and 2023, with their rankings unchanged. Similarly, the age distribution of all persons involved in crashes showed minimal fluctuation, with each age group's proportional representation changing by less than one percentage point between the two periods.
Top Vehicle Makes (22,519 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,883 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (25,039 persons with recorded sex)
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 shifted slightly towards lower speed zones in October 2024 compared to the previous year. The proportion of incidents in zones with posted speed limits under 40 mph grew from 66.7% to 68.8% of all crashes. Correspondingly, the share of crashes in zones between 40-55 mph decreased from 18.6% to 16.8%. Fatalities recorded in lower speed zones (under 40 mph) decreased from 19 to 16, while remaining stable at 8 in zones between 40 and 55 mph.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 5 of 2,649 (0.189%) · 30 mph: 5 of 3,076 (0.163%) · 35 mph: 6 of 1,587 (0.378%) · 40 mph: 1 of 823 (0.122%) · 45 mph: 2 of 415 (0.482%) · 50 mph: 4 of 285 (1.404%) · 55 mph: 1 of 475 (0.211%) · 60 mph: 1 of 36 (2.778%) · 65 mph: 2 of 675 (0.296%)
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: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 11,908
- Total persons involved: 28,153
- Total vehicles involved: 22,519
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: 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/statewide/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2024-10-01 – 2024-10-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved