ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · WALTHAM, MA · APRIL 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/waltham/april-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
91 CRASHES IN
WALTHAM, MA
APRIL 2024
Total crashes in Waltham decreased by 11.65% year-over-year, from 103 in April 2023 to 91 in April 2024. Despite this overall reduction, the current period recorded one fatality, compared to zero fatalities in the prior year. This shift indicates a concerning increase in crash severity, even with fewer total incidents.
91
▼ -11.7%was 103
Total Crash Events
1
Persons Killed
26
▲ 62.5%was 16
Persons Injured
4
▼ -77.8%was 18
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, the trend for total crashes in Waltham shows a decrease, with 91 crashes reported in April 2024 compared to 103 in April 2023. This represents an 11.65% reduction in the total number of crashes year-over-year. However, the period also saw an increase in fatal crashes, from 0 to 1.
4
Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2024
▼ -77.8% vs prior (18)
Hit-and-run crashes decreased significantly year-over-year, dropping from 18 incidents in April 2023 to 4 in April 2024. This reduction resulted in a lower hit-and-run rate, falling from 17.5% of all crashes in the prior period to 4.4% in the current period.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
1
Pedestrians Injured
1
Cyclists Injured
24
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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 Saturday, with 20 crashes in April 2023, to Tuesday, with 18 crashes in April 2024. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 2 PM, which had 11 crashes in the prior period, to 4 PM, which recorded 13 crashes in the current period. This indicates a shift in the busiest times for crash occurrences.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The most significant change in crash severity is the increase in fatalities, with 1 fatal crash and 1 fatality recorded in April 2024, compared to 0 in April 2023. Total injuries also increased from 16 to 26 year-over-year. While serious injury crashes (severity A) decreased from 9 to 1, minor injury crashes (severity B) appeared with 11 instances in the current period, and possible injury crashes (severity C) increased from 3 to 7.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Among contributing factors, 'Inattention' crashes increased by 61.5% in count, from 13 to 21, becoming the top factor in the current period. 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes saw a 150% increase in count, rising from 6 to 15. Conversely, 'No improper driving' crashes decreased by 57.9% in count, from 19 to 8, and 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' decreased by 27.3% in count, from 11 to 8.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 66 in the prior period to 49 in the current period, while crashes during 'Rain' remained stable at 8 for both periods. The current period also reported crashes under adverse conditions such as 'Sleet, hail' (2 crashes) and 'Snow' (2 crashes), which were not present in the prior period's data. Crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 23 to 12, and crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces decreased from 86 to 74.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, with its crash count increasing from 35 in the prior period to 45 in the current period. Honda's involvement slightly decreased from 25 to 24, while Ford's increased from 23 to 24. In terms of person demographics, the 0-15 age group saw an increase in involvement from 6 to 11 persons, and the 26-34 age group increased from 33 to 43 persons involved. Conversely, the 16-20 age group saw a decrease from 28 to 18 persons involved.
Top Vehicle Makes (185 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Vehicle unit records
17 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (200 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in the 25 mph speed limit zone saw a substantial increase, rising from 5 in April 2023 to 44 in April 2024, and this zone accounted for the only fatal crash in the current period. In contrast, crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased sharply from 76 to 19. Crashes in the 35 mph zone increased from 2 to 11, and in the 55 mph zone, they increased from 8 to 10.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 44 (2.273%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30 · 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: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-04-01 through 2024-04-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: WALTHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 91
- Total persons involved: 218
- Total vehicles involved: 185
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). "WALTHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/waltham/april-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: 2024-04-01 – 2024-04-30
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved