Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

568 CRASHES IN
WORCESTER, MA
DECEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2023

In December 2024, Worcester experienced 568 crashes, a 13.8% increase from the 499 crashes recorded in December 2023. Despite the rise in total crashes, the number of injured persons decreased by 10.6%, from 160 to 143. A notable shift was the decrease in the hit-and-run crash rate from 21.2% in the prior period to 19% in the current period, even as the count of hit-and-run crashes slightly increased.

568

13.8%was 499

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

143

-10.6%was 160

Persons Injured

108

1.9%was 106

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Total crashes in Worcester increased by 13.8% year-over-year, rising from 499 crashes in December 2023 to 568 crashes in December 2024. This indicates an upward trend in crash incidents for the month.

108

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2024

1.9% vs prior (106)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased slightly by 1.9% in count, from 106 in December 2023 to 108 in December 2024. However, the hit-and-run crash rate decreased by 2.2 percentage points, from 21.2% in the prior period to 19% in the current period, relative to the overall increase in total crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

14

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1127.3%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

127

Motorists Injured

Prior: 148-14.2%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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 Friday in both periods, with 111 crashes in December 2024 compared to 95 in December 2023. However, the peak crash hour shifted from 5 PM in December 2023, which had 66 crashes, to 2 PM in December 2024, with 52 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either December 2024 or December 2023. Total injuries decreased by 10.6%, from 160 in December 2023 to 143 in December 2024. Serious injury crashes decreased by 14.3% in count, from 14 to 12, while crashes with no injuries increased by 33.8% in count, rising from 299 to 400.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury12serious injury crashes2.1%
-14.3%prior 14
Minor Injury49minor injury crashes8.6%
-14.0%prior 57
Possible Injury45possible injury crashes7.9%
-4.3%prior 47
No Injury400no injury crashes70.4%
33.8%prior 299

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

No improper driving remained the most frequent contributing factor, increasing by 11.5% in count from 166 to 185 crashes. Followed too closely saw a significant 41.7% increase in count, rising from 24 to 34 crashes, and Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings increased by 46.2% in count, from 13 to 19 crashes. Conversely, Inattention decreased by 22.2% in count, from 18 to 14 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving185 (32.6%)11.4%prior 166
Failed to yield right of way34 (6%)9.7%prior 31
Followed too closely34 (6%)41.7%prior 24
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings19 (3.3%)46.2%prior 13
Inattention14 (2.5%)-22.2%prior 18
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road13 (2.3%)0.0%prior 13
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway9 (1.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions8 (1.4%)
Other improper action7 (1.2%)0.0%prior 7
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner6 (1.1%)0.0%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in Clear weather conditions saw a slight 1.2% increase in count, from 333 to 337, while those in Rain decreased by 17.6% in count, from 79 to 65. A notable increase was observed in crashes during Snow conditions, rising from 1 in December 2023 to 70 in December 2024, and Ice conditions, increasing from 300% in count from 8 to 32 crashes. Crashes in Daylight increased by 27.7% in count, from 238 to 304, while those on Dry road surfaces decreased by 3.5% in count.

Weather

Clear245 (43.9%)
-13.7%prior 284
Clear/Clear92 (16.5%)
87.8%prior 49
Rain32 (5.7%)
-40.7%prior 54
Cloudy32 (5.7%)
-15.8%prior 38
Snow31 (5.6%)
Cloudy/Rain20 (3.6%)
17.6%prior 17
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)17 (3.0%)
Snow/Snow13 (2.3%)
Rain/Rain13 (2.3%)
62.5%prior 8
Cloudy/Snow9 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight304 (55.0%)
27.7%prior 238
Dark - lighted roadway204 (36.9%)
-3.3%prior 211
Dusk17 (3.1%)
41.7%prior 12
Dawn12 (2.2%)
33.3%prior 9
Dark - roadway not lighted11 (2.0%)
10.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting4 (0.7%)
Other1 (0.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry334 (60.9%)
-3.5%prior 346
Wet117 (21.4%)
-4.1%prior 122
Snow61 (11.1%)
Ice32 (5.8%)
300.0%prior 8
Slush4 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 16.3%, from 987 in December 2023 to 1148 in December 2024. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, increasing by 8.6% in count from 210 to 228. Chevrolet involvement saw a substantial 57.1% increase in count, from 49 to 77, and Honda increased by 30.2% in count, from 116 to 151.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,148 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA228 (19.9%)
8.6%prior 210
2
HONDA151 (13.2%)
30.2%prior 116
3
FORD107 (9.3%)
0.9%prior 106
4
CHEVROLET77 (6.7%)
57.1%prior 49
5
NISSAN63 (5.5%)
1.6%prior 62
6
SUBARU61 (5.3%)
41.9%prior 43
7
JEEP39 (3.4%)
0.0%prior 39
8
HYUNDAI31 (2.7%)
-27.9%prior 43
9
VOLKSWAGEN24 (2.1%)
60.0%prior 15
10
KIA23 (2%)
130.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (1,184 persons with recorded sex)

Male635 (53.6%)
16.5%prior 545
Female548 (46.3%)
36.7%prior 401
X / Unspecified1 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone saw a substantial increase, from 2 crashes in December 2023 to 225 crashes in December 2024. The 30 mph zone also experienced a significant rise, with crashes increasing by 119.8% in count from 96 to 211. Crashes in the 35 mph zone more than doubled, increasing by 112.5% in count from 16 to 34, while crashes in the 65 mph zone decreased by 11.8% in count, from 17 to 15.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-12-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-12-01 through 2024-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WORCESTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 568
  • Total persons involved: 1,437
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,148

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). "WORCESTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-12-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/worcester/december-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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Worcester, MA Crash Report — December 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com