Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

131 CRASHES IN
TAUNTON, MA
APRIL 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2025

In April 2026, Taunton experienced 131 crashes, a decrease of 7.1% compared to 141 crashes in April 2025. Despite the reduction in overall crashes, total injuries increased by 8.3%, rising from 36 to 39. A notable shift was the 75% decrease in speeding-related crashes, falling from 4 to 1.

131

-7.1%was 141

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

39

8.3%was 36

Persons Injured

11

-21.4%was 14

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. 6 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash incidents in Taunton saw a downward trend year-over-year, decreasing from 141 crashes in April 2025 to 131 crashes in April 2026. This represents a reduction of 10 crashes, or approximately 7.1%. Despite this decrease in total crashes, the number of injuries rose from 36 to 39, an increase of 8.3%.

11

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2026

-21.4% vs prior (14)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 14 in April 2025 to 11 in April 2026, representing a 21.4% reduction. Concurrently, the hit-and-run rate declined from 9.9% to 8.4% of all crashes. This indicates a downward trend in hit-and-run incidents year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

39

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3511.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Wednesday (26 crashes) in April 2025 to Thursday and Friday (25 crashes each) in April 2026. The peak crash hour remained 2 PM in both periods, though the count decreased from 15 crashes in April 2025 to 13 crashes in April 2026. These changes indicate a slight redistribution of crash occurrences across weekdays.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either April 2025 or April 2026. While total crashes decreased, the number of total injuries increased from 36 to 39. Serious injuries (Severity A) saw an increase from 2 (1.4% of crashes) to 3 (2.3% of crashes), while minor injuries (Severity B) decreased from 17 (12.1%) to 13 (9.9%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury3serious injury crashes2.3%
50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury13minor injury crashes9.9%
-23.5%prior 17
Possible Injury11possible injury crashes8.4%
0.0%prior 11
No Injury98no injury crashes74.8%
-4.9%prior 103

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'Inattention,' decreased significantly from 42 crashes in April 2025 to 23 crashes in April 2026, a 45.2% reduction in count. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' increased substantially, rising from 11 crashes to 20 crashes, an 81.8% increase in count. 'Followed too closely' incidents decreased by 66.7%, from 24 crashes to 8 crashes, while 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased by 275%, from 4 crashes to 15 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving25 (19.1%)-3.8%prior 26
Inattention23 (17.6%)-45.2%prior 42
Failed to yield right of way20 (15.3%)81.8%prior 11
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road15 (11.5%)
Other improper action8 (6.1%)33.3%prior 6
Followed too closely8 (6.1%)-66.7%prior 24
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings6 (4.6%)
Made an improper turn4 (3.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (2.3%)
Distracted2 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in dry road conditions increased from 105 in April 2025 to 113 in April 2026, while those on wet roads decreased by 52.9%, from 34 to 16. Incidents during rainy weather conditions also saw a decrease, falling from 22 to 9. The number of crashes in daylight conditions remained stable at 103 in April 2025 and 104 in April 2026, but crashes in dark-lighted roadway conditions decreased from 29 to 20.

Weather

Clear/Clear60 (45.8%)
36.4%prior 44
Clear48 (36.6%)
-17.2%prior 58
Cloudy8 (6.1%)
14.3%prior 7
Rain7 (5.3%)
-50.0%prior 14
Cloudy/Cloudy4 (3.1%)
Rain/Rain2 (1.5%)
-75.0%prior 8
Cloudy/Rain1 (0.8%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight104 (79.4%)
1.0%prior 103
Dark - lighted roadway20 (15.3%)
-31.0%prior 29
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (2.3%)
Dawn3 (2.3%)
Dusk1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry113 (87.6%)
7.6%prior 105
Wet16 (12.4%)
-52.9%prior 34

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top-ranked vehicle make involved in crashes, TOYOTA, saw a decrease from 41 vehicles in April 2025 to 36 in April 2026. FORD vehicles involved in crashes increased from 29 to 34, while HONDA increased from 25 to 26, moving into the top three. The largest age group involved in crashes shifted from 45-54 year-olds (61 persons) in April 2025 to 26-34 year-olds (64 persons) in April 2026, indicating a demographic shift in crash involvement.

Top Vehicle Makes (238 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA36 (15.1%)
-12.2%prior 41
2
FORD34 (14.3%)
17.2%prior 29
3
HONDA26 (10.9%)
4.0%prior 25
4
CHEVROLET20 (8.4%)
-28.6%prior 28
5
NISSAN18 (7.6%)
-10.0%prior 20
6
HYUNDAI16 (6.7%)
60.0%prior 10
7
JEEP12 (5%)
100.0%prior 6
8
MERCEDES-BENZ6 (2.5%)
0.0%prior 6
9
VOLKSWAGEN5 (2.1%)
0.0%prior 5
10
BMW5 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (258 persons with recorded sex)

Male147 (57.0%)
-13.0%prior 169
Female111 (43.0%)
-4.3%prior 116

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in the 65 mph speed zone decreased by 40%, falling from 10 incidents in April 2025 to 6 in April 2026. Crashes in the 30 mph zone remained stable, with 57 in April 2025 and 58 in April 2026. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30 · 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: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-04-01 through 2026-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: TAUNTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 131
  • Total persons involved: 286
  • Total vehicles involved: 238

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). "TAUNTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/taunton/april-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

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Taunton, MA Crash Report — April 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com