ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · WALTHAM, MA · JANUARY 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/january-2024-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
124 CRASHES IN
WALTHAM, MA
JANUARY 2024
In January 2024, Waltham experienced 124 crashes, a 3.1% decrease from the 128 crashes recorded in January 2023. While total injuries remained stable at 30 for both periods, serious injuries decreased significantly from 14 to 1 person. Notably, pedestrian crashes saw a substantial 75% reduction, falling from 4 incidents in the prior year to 1 in the current period.
124
▼ -3.1%was 128
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
30
Persons Injured
15
▼ -31.8%was 22
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. 9 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
The overall trend indicates a slight decrease in total crashes, with 124 crashes in January 2024 compared to 128 in January 2023. This represents a 3.1% reduction in the total number of crash incidents year-over-year. Fatalities remained at zero for both periods, and total injuries held steady at 30.
15
Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2024
▼ -31.8% vs prior (22)
Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 22 incidents in January 2023 to 15 incidents in January 2024, a reduction of 7 crashes. The hit-and-run rate also saw a decline, dropping from 17.2% in the prior year to 12.1% in the current period, representing a 5.1 percentage point decrease.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Motorists Killed
1
Pedestrians Injured
29
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for crashes shifted from Monday (25 crashes) in January 2023 to Tuesday (23 crashes) in January 2024. The peak hour also shifted from 2 PM (17 crashes) in the prior year to 5 PM (17 crashes) in the current period. Significant changes include a decrease of 14 crashes on Saturdays and a decrease of 11 crashes at 2 PM.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
There were no fatalities in either January 2024 or January 2023, and the total number of injured persons remained consistent at 30. However, the distribution of injury severity shifted; serious injuries (A) decreased from 14 persons in January 2023 to 1 person in January 2024. Conversely, minor injuries (B) increased from 4 persons to 17 persons, and possible injuries (C) slightly rose from 11 to 12 persons.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Several contributing factors saw notable changes year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased by 5, from 25 to 30 incidents, while 'Inattention' decreased by 4 crashes, from 21 to 17. 'Failed to yield right of way' incidents also decreased by 5, from 20 to 15, and crashes related to 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased by 4, from 2 to 6 incidents. Factors like 'Other improper action' and 'Over-correcting/over-steering' appeared in the current period's top factors with 9 and 4 crashes respectively, having not been listed in the prior period's top factors.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 65 in January 2023 to 52 in January 2024, while 'Cloudy' conditions saw an increase from 19 to 31 crashes. Crashes in 'Snow' conditions decreased from 13 to 6. For lighting, crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' decreased from 40 to 36, and 'Dusk' crashes saw a significant reduction from 9 to 2. Road surface conditions remained largely stable, with 'Dry' conditions accounting for 75 crashes in both periods.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 243 in January 2023 to 254 in January 2024. Toyota became the most frequently involved make, with 52 vehicles, surpassing Honda (42 vehicles), which was previously tied with Toyota at 31 vehicles. Regarding persons involved, the 16-20, 21-25, 26-34, 45-54, 55-64, and 65+ age groups saw increases in counts, with the largest increase in the 26-34 age group (from 48 to 55 persons). The number of males involved increased from 129 to 150, while females decreased from 113 to 102.
Top Vehicle Makes (254 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Vehicle unit records
76 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (252 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
There was a notable shift in crash distribution across speed zones, with crashes in 30 mph zones decreasing significantly from 96 in January 2023 to 67 in January 2024. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph zones increased substantially from 2 to 16. Additionally, crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 6 to 11. Several speed zones (5 mph, 15 mph, 40 mph, 65 mph) appeared in the current period's data with 1 to 3 crashes, having not been listed in the prior period.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-01-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: WALTHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 124
- Total persons involved: 328
- Total vehicles involved: 254
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: January 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/waltham/january-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: 2024-01-01 – 2024-01-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved