Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

189 CRASHES IN
TAUNTON, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Taunton recorded 189 crashes, a 4.4% increase from 181 crashes in March 2023. Notably, there were no fatalities in March 2024, compared to one fatality in the prior year. Total injuries remained stable, increasing slightly from 49 to 50.

189

4.4%was 181

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

50

2.0%was 49

Persons Injured

19

18.8%was 16

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in crashes for Taunton shows a slight increase, with total crashes rising from 181 in March 2023 to 189 in March 2024. This represents a 4.4% increase in crash incidents year-over-year. The number of crashes resulting in fatalities decreased from one to zero.

19

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2024

18.8% vs prior (16)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 16 in March 2023 to 19 in March 2024, representing an 18.75% rise. The hit-and-run crash rate also increased from 8.8% to 10.1% year-over-year. This indicates an upward trend in hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

48

Motorists Injured

Prior: 480.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Thursday for both periods, with 34 crashes recorded on this day in both March 2023 and March 2024. The peak hour for crashes also remained consistent at 2 PM, though the count slightly decreased from 24 crashes in March 2023 to 23 crashes in March 2024. Monday experienced a notable increase in crashes, rising from 20 in March 2023 to 32 in March 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities decreased from 1 in March 2023 to 0 in March 2024. Total injuries saw a minor increase from 49 to 50 year-over-year. Serious injuries (code A) increased from 1 to 2, while possible injuries (code C) decreased from 12 to 7.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes1.1%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury24minor injury crashes12.7%
9.1%prior 22
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes3.7%
-41.7%prior 12
No Injury144no injury crashes76.2%
7.5%prior 134

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 5, from 28 in March 2023 to 33 in March 2024. 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes also rose by 5, from 26 to 31. Conversely, crashes involving 'Followed too closely' decreased by 2, from 24 to 22, and 'Distracted' driving crashes doubled from 3 to 6.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention33 (17.5%)17.9%prior 28
Failed to yield right of way31 (16.4%)19.2%prior 26
No improper driving31 (16.4%)3.3%prior 30
Followed too closely22 (11.6%)-8.3%prior 24
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (3.7%)-12.5%prior 8
Distracted6 (3.2%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (2.6%)-28.6%prior 7
Other improper action5 (2.6%)-37.5%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions4 (2.1%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit3 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions (combining 'Clear' and 'Clear/Clear') saw a minor increase from 135 in March 2023 to 136 in March 2024. Crashes during rainy conditions (combining 'Rain' and 'Rain/Rain') increased from 13 to 27, while crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 25 to 34. Crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 30 to 39.

Weather

Clear83 (43.9%)
13.7%prior 73
Clear/Clear53 (28.0%)
-14.5%prior 62
Cloudy17 (9.0%)
13.3%prior 15
Rain16 (8.5%)
77.8%prior 9
Rain/Rain11 (5.8%)
Cloudy/Rain4 (2.1%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (1.6%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.5%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight134 (70.9%)
-0.7%prior 135
Dark - lighted roadway39 (20.6%)
30.0%prior 30
Dusk6 (3.2%)
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (2.6%)
Dawn3 (1.6%)
-50.0%prior 6
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (1.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry155 (82.0%)
2.0%prior 152
Wet34 (18.0%)
36.0%prior 25

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 327 in March 2023 to 341 in March 2024. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, though its count decreased from 53 to 47, while Ford involvement significantly increased from 32 to 45. In terms of persons involved, the 16-20 age group saw an increase from 38 to 55, and the 65+ age group increased from 31 to 46.

Top Vehicle Makes (341 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA47 (13.8%)
-11.3%prior 53
2
FORD45 (13.2%)
40.6%prior 32
3
HONDA35 (10.3%)
40.0%prior 25
4
CHEVROLET30 (8.8%)
7.1%prior 28
5
NISSAN25 (7.3%)
25.0%prior 20
6
HYUNDAI17 (5%)
-22.7%prior 22
7
JEEP13 (3.8%)
-31.6%prior 19
8
KIA11 (3.2%)
10.0%prior 10
9
SUBARU10 (2.9%)
25.0%prior 8
10
VOLKSWAGEN10 (2.9%)
11.1%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (371 persons with recorded sex)

Male227 (61.2%)
10.2%prior 206
Female144 (38.8%)
-23.8%prior 189

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Fatal crashes in speed zones decreased from 1 at 25 mph in March 2023 to 0 in March 2024. Crashes occurring in 30 mph zones decreased from 72 to 66. Crashes in 65 mph zones decreased from 12 to 7, while crashes in 20 mph zones increased from 5 to 13.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: TAUNTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 189
  • Total persons involved: 414
  • Total vehicles involved: 341

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: March 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/taunton/march-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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Taunton, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com