Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

6 CRASHES IN
TOWNSEND, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Townsend experienced 6 crashes, a significant decrease from the 14 crashes reported in March 2023, representing a 57.1% reduction. The most notable shift was the substantial decline in crashes attributed to 'Inattention,' which dropped from 6 crashes to 1 crash year-over-year.

6

-57.1%was 14

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

1

-80.0%was 5

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

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.

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

Overall crash trends in Townsend show a notable decline year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 57.1% from 14 in March 2023 to 6 in March 2024. This reduction was accompanied by an 80% decrease in total injuries, falling from 5 to 1 during the same period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5-80.0%

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 temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in March 2023 (5 crashes) to Saturday in March 2024 (3 crashes). The peak hour also changed from 3 PM (3 crashes) in the prior year to 8 PM (1 crash) in the current year, indicating a shift in when crashes are most frequent.

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 remained at zero in both March 2023 and March 2024. However, total injuries decreased substantially from 5 in March 2023 to 1 in March 2024. The proportion of crashes resulting in injury also saw a decline, from 28.6% of crashes in March 2023 to 16.7% in March 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury1minor injury crashes16.7%
-50.0%prior 2
No Injury5no injury crashes83.3%
-44.4%prior 9

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

Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a significant decrease, falling from 6 in March 2023 to 1 in March 2024. Similarly, 'No improper driving' crashes decreased from 2 to 1. The factor 'Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway' emerged with 2 crashes in March 2024, while factors like 'Failed to yield right of way,' 'Driving too fast for conditions,' and 'Glare' were present in March 2023 but not among the top factors in March 2024.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (33.3%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (16.7%)
Inattention1 (16.7%)-83.3%prior 6
No improper driving1 (16.7%)
Other improper action1 (16.7%)

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 decreased from 12 in March 2023 to 4 in March 2024. Similarly, 'Daylight' crashes decreased from 12 to 4, and 'Dry' road surface crashes dropped from 12 to 4. While 'Snow' conditions accounted for 1 crash in both periods, 'Rain' and 'Wet' road surface conditions each contributed to 1 crash in March 2024, whereas 'Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel' was present in March 2023.

Weather

Clear4 (66.7%)
-66.7%prior 12
Rain1 (16.7%)
Snow1 (16.7%)

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

Lighting

Daylight4 (66.7%)
-66.7%prior 12
Dark - lighted roadway1 (16.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (16.7%)

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

Road Surface

Dry4 (66.7%)
-66.7%prior 12
Snow1 (16.7%)
Wet1 (16.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (10 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA3 (30%)
2
SUBARU2 (20%)
3
JEEP1 (10%)
4
GMC1 (10%)
5
NISSAN1 (10%)
6
LEXUS1 (10%)
7
HONDA1 (10%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (14 persons with recorded sex)

Male8 (57.1%)
-11.1%prior 9
Female6 (42.9%)
-68.4%prior 19

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

The distribution of crashes by speed limit zones shifted year-over-year, with total crashes in reported zones decreasing from 14 to 6. Crashes in the 35 mph zone decreased from 5 to 1, and in the 40 mph zone from 3 to 1. Notably, 3 crashes occurred in the 45 mph zone in March 2024, a zone not represented in the prior year's data, while lower speed zones (10, 20, 25, 30 mph) present in March 2023 were absent in March 2024.

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: TOWNSEND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 6
  • Total persons involved: 15
  • Total vehicles involved: 10

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). "TOWNSEND, 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/townsend/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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Townsend, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com