Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

95 CRASHES IN
WALTHAM, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Waltham experienced 95 crashes, a 24% decrease from the 125 crashes reported in March 2023. Total injuries also saw a significant reduction, falling from 36 to 22, representing a 38.9% decline. The most notable shift was an 86.7% decrease in serious injury crashes, from 15 in March 2023 to 2 in March 2024.

95

-24.0%was 125

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

22

-38.9%was 36

Persons Injured

11

-42.1%was 19

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. 4 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

Overall crash data for Waltham shows a declining trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 30 incidents, from 125 in March 2023 to 95 in March 2024, marking a 24% reduction. This indicates a general improvement in crash frequency compared to the prior year.

11

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2024

-42.1% vs prior (19)

Hit-and-run crashes in Waltham decreased year-over-year, falling from 19 incidents in March 2023 to 11 in March 2024, a 42.1% reduction in count. The hit-and-run rate also declined from 15.2% of all crashes to 11.6%. This indicates a downward trend in hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 5-60.0%

20

Motorists Injured

Prior: 29-31.0%

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 between the two periods. In March 2023, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 25 incidents, whereas in March 2024, Saturday recorded the highest number of crashes with 18. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 6 PM with 11 incidents in March 2023 to 4 PM with 9 incidents 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

Waltham reported no fatalities in either March 2023 or March 2024. Total injuries decreased by 38.9%, from 36 in March 2023 to 22 in March 2024. Serious injury crashes (severity A) saw a substantial 86.7% reduction, decreasing from 15 to 2, while minor injury crashes (severity B) increased from 1 to 8, and possible injury crashes (severity C) decreased from 12 to 6.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.1%
-86.7%prior 15
Minor Injury8minor injury crashes8.4%
700.0%prior 1
Possible Injury6possible injury crashes6.3%
-50.0%prior 12
No Injury75no injury crashes78.9%
-14.8%prior 88

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

Analysis of contributing factors reveals several shifts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 9 incidents, from 15 in March 2023 to 24 in March 2024, now representing 25.3% of crashes compared to 12% previously. Conversely, crashes with 'No improper driving' decreased by 11 incidents, from 21 to 10, and 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 2 incidents, from 16 to 14. 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased significantly by 6 incidents, from 4 to 10.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention24 (25.3%)60.0%prior 15
Failed to yield right of way14 (14.7%)-12.5%prior 16
No improper driving10 (10.5%)-52.4%prior 21
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road10 (10.5%)
Followed too closely7 (7.4%)-12.5%prior 8
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner7 (7.4%)-22.2%prior 9
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (4.2%)-20.0%prior 5
Made an improper turn3 (3.2%)
Distracted2 (2.1%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (2.1%)

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

Clear weather conditions accounted for 49 crashes in March 2024, down from 73 in March 2023, while crashes during rain increased from 7 to 12. Daylight remained the predominant lighting condition for crashes, though the count decreased from 88 to 68. The number of crashes on dry road surfaces fell from 99 to 74, while crashes on wet road surfaces saw a slight increase from 19 to 21.

Weather

Clear49 (51.6%)
-32.9%prior 73
Cloudy22 (23.2%)
-8.3%prior 24
Rain12 (12.6%)
71.4%prior 7
Clear/Clear5 (5.3%)
0.0%prior 5
Cloudy/Rain3 (3.2%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (2.1%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (1.1%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.1%)

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

Lighting

Daylight68 (71.6%)
-22.7%prior 88
Dark - lighted roadway26 (27.4%)
-7.1%prior 28
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry74 (77.9%)
-25.3%prior 99
Wet21 (22.1%)
10.5%prior 19

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 persons involved in crashes decreased from 343 in March 2023 to 219 in March 2024. Notably, the number of persons in the 35-44 age group involved in crashes decreased by 19, from 52 to 33, and those in the 65+ age group decreased by 12, from 31 to 19. Toyota, Honda, and Ford remained the top three vehicle makes involved in crashes for both periods, despite a decrease in their respective counts.

Top Vehicle Makes (181 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA41 (22.7%)
-21.2%prior 52
2
HONDA26 (14.4%)
-25.7%prior 35
3
FORD20 (11%)
-33.3%prior 30
4
NISSAN15 (8.3%)
66.7%prior 9
5
CHEVROLET13 (7.2%)
18.2%prior 11
6
SUBARU8 (4.4%)
-11.1%prior 9
7
LEXUS6 (3.3%)
8
JEEP6 (3.3%)
9
BMW5 (2.8%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (2.2%)
-50.0%prior 8

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

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

Sex Distribution (194 persons with recorded sex)

Male122 (62.9%)
-14.1%prior 142
Female72 (37.1%)
-35.7%prior 112

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

In March 2024, the 25 mph speed zone recorded the highest number of crashes with 40 incidents, a notable shift from March 2023 where the 30 mph zone had the most crashes at 99. Crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased from 99 to 23 year-over-year, while crashes in the 25 mph zone increased from 2 to 40. No fatalities were reported in any speed zone during either period.

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: WALTHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 95
  • Total persons involved: 219
  • Total vehicles involved: 181

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: 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/waltham/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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Waltham, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com