Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

49 CRASHES IN
SWANSEA, MA
MAY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2023

Total crashes in Swansea increased slightly from 48 in May 2023 to 49 in May 2024, a 2.08% rise. Despite this increase in overall incidents, total injuries decreased by 15%, dropping from 20 to 17. A notable year-over-year shift was the 75% reduction in serious injury crashes, falling from 4 to 1.

49

2.1%was 48

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

17

-15.0%was 20

Persons Injured

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (0) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (0) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends in Swansea show a slight increase in total crashes by 2.08%, from 48 in May 2023 to 49 in May 2024. Concurrently, total injuries decreased by 15%, dropping from 20 to 17 over the same period. This indicates a trend of more frequent but less severe crashes year-over-year.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2024

0.0% vs prior (2)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained stable at 2 incidents in both May 2023 and May 2024. The hit-and-run rate saw a minor decrease from 4.2% in May 2023 to 4.1% in May 2024.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

17

Motorists Injured

Prior: 20-15.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday with 9 incidents in May 2023 to Wednesday with 11 incidents in May 2024. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 4 PM with 5 incidents in May 2023 to 12 PM with 6 incidents in May 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes saw a notable improvement year-over-year, with no fatal crashes reported in either period. Serious injury crashes decreased significantly by 75%, from 4 incidents in May 2023 to 1 in May 2024. Minor injury crashes also saw a slight decrease from 9 to 8, while possible injury crashes increased from 2 to 3.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2%
-75.0%prior 4
Minor Injury8minor injury crashes16.3%
-11.1%prior 9
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes6.1%
50.0%prior 2
No Injury35no injury crashes71.4%
6.1%prior 33

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors shifted year-over-year, with "Followed too closely" increasing by 225% from 4 crashes in May 2023 to 13 in May 2024, becoming the most frequent factor. Conversely, "Inattention" crashes decreased by 44.4%, from 9 to 5, and "No improper driving" decreased by 88.9%, from 9 to 1. "Failed to yield right of way" crashes increased by 37.5%, from 8 to 11.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely13 (26.5%)
Failed to yield right of way11 (22.4%)37.5%prior 8
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (10.2%)
Inattention5 (10.2%)-44.4%prior 9
Other improper action3 (6.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (4.1%)
No improper driving1 (2%)-88.9%prior 9
Physical impairment1 (2%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (2%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring under clear weather conditions decreased slightly from 40 in May 2023 to 38 in May 2024. Concurrently, crashes on wet road surfaces increased by 3 incidents, from 7 to 10. The number of crashes occurring in daylight conditions increased from 36 to 39, while those at dawn decreased from 3 to 0.

Weather

Clear38 (77.6%)
-5.0%prior 40
Rain6 (12.2%)
20.0%prior 5
Cloudy4 (8.2%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight39 (81.3%)
8.3%prior 36
Dark - lighted roadway7 (14.6%)
40.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (4.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry39 (79.6%)
-4.9%prior 41
Wet10 (20.4%)
42.9%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 13.6%, from 81 in May 2023 to 92 in May 2024. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, increasing from 13 to 17 vehicles, while Ford decreased from 12 to 8. There was a notable increase in persons aged 65 and older involved in crashes, rising from 11 to 20, and in the 0-15 age group, increasing from 5 to 9.

Top Vehicle Makes (92 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA17 (18.5%)
30.8%prior 13
2
HONDA12 (13%)
140.0%prior 5
3
CHEVROLET12 (13%)
71.4%prior 7
4
JEEP9 (9.8%)
5
FORD8 (8.7%)
-33.3%prior 12
6
KIA3 (3.3%)
7
ACURA3 (3.3%)
8
MAZDA3 (3.3%)
9
NISSAN3 (3.3%)
-50.0%prior 6
10
BMW3 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

6 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (102 persons with recorded sex)

Male55 (53.9%)
31.0%prior 42
Female47 (46.1%)
11.9%prior 42

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 65 mph speed zones decreased significantly from 10 incidents in May 2023 to 1 in May 2024. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 3 to 6, and in 45 mph zones from 3 to 7. Crashes in 40 mph zones remained stable at 11 incidents in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · 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: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SWANSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 49
  • Total persons involved: 109
  • Total vehicles involved: 92

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). "SWANSEA, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/swansea/may-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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Swansea, MA Crash Report — May 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com