Is Interstate 495 the Deadliest Highway in Massachusetts?

By the measure that matters most, yes. In 2024, the most recent complete year in the MassDOT crash records, the northbound Interstate 495 segment recorded 9 fatal crashes, the highest fatal count of any road entry in Massachusetts and three times the next-worst highway. Northbound I-93, the westbound Massachusetts Turnpike, and southbound Route 3 tied for second at 3 apiece. Southbound I-495 added 2 more, bringing the corridor to 11 fatal crashes in a single year. What makes that finding striking is what it does not match: on total crashes, I-495 northbound recorded 232 in 2024, seventeenth statewide and roughly half of I-93 northbound’s 444. So the Massachusetts highway with the most collisions and the Massachusetts highway that kills the most people are not the same road. Twelve communities across four counties carry an I-495 segment among their highest-crash roads, together accounting for 280 crashes on the highway in 2024. Every figure here comes from MassDOT crash records and can be checked town by town at the Massachusetts crash report. To talk through a crash on I-495 or anywhere else in Massachusetts, call Jim Glaser Law at (617) JIM-WINS; the line is answered 24 hours a day, and the first telephone consultation is free.

Where These Numbers Come From, and What They Do Not Say

The counts come from MassDOT’s open crash data, the record assembled from Massachusetts crash reports, covering calendar years 2022, 2023, and 2024. Town-level totals below are three-year figures. Road-level counts are for 2024 alone, because road naming in the source shifts enough between years that stacking three years of it produces noise instead of signal. Statewide across the three years, Massachusetts recorded 405,245 crashes, of which 1,087 were fatal, 92,759 involved an injury, 4,356 involved a bicycle, and 5,980 involved a pedestrian. That works out to a statewide rate of 2.68 fatal crashes per 1,000 crashes, the benchmark used throughout this piece.

One caution before the rankings. Crash counts measure exposure as much as danger, and a fatal count in a single year on a single road is a small number that can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the road. Nine fatal crashes is nine tragedies, not a statistical law. A count tells you where crashes happened. It does not establish that a road was defective, and it says nothing at all about who was responsible for any particular one. Fault in a Massachusetts injury claim is decided on the facts of that crash under the comparative negligence rule in M.G.L. c. 231, sec. 85.

The Volume and Lethality Inversion, at Highway Scale

Set the two statewide 2024 rankings side by side and the pattern is hard to miss.

On total crashes, the top of the list is dominated by generic street names aggregated across many communities: Main Street at 2,672, Washington Street at 1,118, Pleasant Street at 633. The first true single highway is I-93 northbound at 444, fourth overall, with I-93 southbound eighth at 359. Interstate 495 northbound sits at 232, seventeenth, just ahead of I-290 eastbound at 220.

On fatal crashes, the order flips. I-495 northbound leads the entire state with 9. I-93 northbound, the highway with nearly twice the crash volume, recorded 3, tied with the westbound Massachusetts Turnpike and the southbound Pilgrim Highway on Route 3. I-495 southbound sits in the next group at 2, alongside the southbound Yankee Division Highway on Route 128, northbound I-91, and several surface roads.

Read together, and this is an inference from the data rather than something the data states, the two interstates are producing different kinds of crashes. I-93 runs through the densest part of the state and generates an enormous number of low-speed congested collisions. I-495 traces the outer ring, where traffic moves faster, spacing is wider, and a collision is far more likely to be severe when it happens. The same inversion shows up at the town level everywhere in this dataset, and it shows up on the corridor itself, as the next section shows.

Answer Capsule

Interstate 495 northbound recorded 9 fatal crashes in 2024, the highest fatal crash count of any road entry in the Massachusetts crash records, with I-495 southbound adding 2 for a corridor total of 11. The next-worst highways tied at 3: I-93 northbound, the westbound Massachusetts Turnpike, and southbound Route 3. On total crashes, however, I-495 northbound recorded only 232 in 2024, seventeenth statewide, against I-93 northbound’s 444, fourth statewide, so the highway with the most crashes in Massachusetts is not the highway with the most fatal crashes. Twelve communities carry an I-495 segment among their top crash roads, accounting for 280 crashes on the highway in 2024: Chelmsford 65, Andover 57, Haverhill 35, Lawrence 34, Hopkinton 19, Littleton 17, Westford 12, Middleborough 11, Tewksbury 11, Amesbury 10, Wrentham 5, and Franklin 4. In Chelmsford and Lawrence, I-495 is the single highest-crash road in town. Across those 12 communities the three-year totals are 26,958 crashes and 66 fatal crashes, a rate of 2.4 per 1,000, slightly below the statewide 2.68, but that corridor average hides an enormous spread: Littleton recorded 7.2 fatal crashes per 1,000 and Chelmsford 5.2, while Haverhill recorded 0.8 and Lawrence 0.9. All figures are MassDOT crash records, town totals for 2022 through 2024 and road counts for 2024, published town by town at the Massachusetts crash report. Call Jim Glaser Law at (617) JIM-WINS; the first telephone consultation is free.

The Twelve Communities on the Corridor

Chelmsford, 65 crashes. The heaviest I-495 concentration in the state and the only community where the highway holds both of the top two road positions. Northbound I-495 recorded 37 crashes and southbound 19, with a third variant entry adding 9, well ahead of Route 3 southbound at 15. Chelmsford also recorded 11 fatal crashes over the three years against 2,108 total, a rate of 5.2 per 1,000, nearly double the statewide figure, and the highest fatal count of any town on this corridor. See Chelmsford crash data.

Andover, 57 crashes. One of very few Massachusetts towns where two major interstates both rank in the top six. I-495 southbound at 31 and northbound at 26 sit alongside I-93 northbound at 41, behind North Main Street at 51. Andover recorded 3,302 crashes and 9 fatal over three years, a rate of 2.7 that sits almost exactly at the statewide average. See Andover crash data.

Haverhill, 35 crashes. I-495 southbound at 18 and northbound at 17 rank third and fourth behind the two directions of Washington Street. Haverhill is the corridor’s clearest low-lethality city: 4,817 crashes over three years with only 4 fatal, a rate of 0.8 per 1,000, less than a third of the statewide figure, alongside 47 bicycle and 79 pedestrian crashes. The city page is at Haverhill crash data, and the practice pages are Haverhill auto accidents and Haverhill truck accidents.

Lawrence, 34 crashes. I-495 northbound at 20 is the single highest-crash road in Lawrence, ahead of Broadway northbound at 18, with I-495 southbound adding 14. Lawrence recorded the largest three-year crash total on the corridor at 5,385, with 5 fatal, a rate of 0.9 per 1,000. Its more urgent numbers are elsewhere: 145 pedestrian crashes and 33 bicycle crashes, among the higher pedestrian counts in the Commonwealth. See Lawrence crash data, Lawrence auto accidents, and Lawrence pedestrian and personal injury claims.

Hopkinton, 19 crashes. Split across three separately named I-495 entries at 7, 6, and 6, ranking sixth through eighth behind four local streets led by West Main Street at 32. Hopkinton recorded 1,552 crashes and 4 fatal, a rate of 2.6. See Hopkinton crash data.

Littleton, 17 crashes. The most lethal community on the corridor by a wide margin. Littleton recorded 973 crashes over three years and 7 fatal, a rate of 7.2 fatal crashes per 1,000, nearly three times the statewide 2.68 and the kind of figure that stands out in a dataset of 349 towns. I-495 northbound at 11 is its fourth-highest road behind Great Road at 42, King Street at 38, and Constitution Avenue at 13. See Littleton crash data.

Westford, 12 crashes. I-495 northbound ranks sixth in a town whose crash activity is spread across local roads led by Littleton Road at 36. Westford recorded 1,337 crashes and 4 fatal, a rate of 3.0, slightly above statewide. See Westford crash data.

Middleborough, 11 crashes. The southernmost community on this list and the only one in Plymouth County. I-495 northbound ranks eighth behind West Grove Street at 25 and the Route 44 entries. Middleborough recorded 2,846 crashes and 7 fatal, a rate of 2.5. See Middleborough crash data.

Tewksbury, 11 crashes. Notable for how thoroughly a local road dominates it: Main Street recorded 169 crashes in 2024, more than six times the next-highest road, while I-495 southbound at 11 ranks sixth. Tewksbury recorded 1,806 crashes and 3 fatal, a rate of 1.7, below statewide. See Tewksbury crash data.

Amesbury, 10 crashes. The northern end of the corridor, split evenly at 5 northbound and 5 southbound, ranking seventh and eighth behind Macy Street at 34. Amesbury recorded 875 crashes and 3 fatal over three years, a rate of 3.4. See Amesbury crash data.

Wrentham, 5 crashes. I-495 southbound ranks seventh in a town whose top three roads are all Washington Street on Route 1. Wrentham recorded 1,067 crashes and 5 fatal, a rate of 4.7 per 1,000, well above statewide despite a modest crash total. See Wrentham crash data.

Franklin, 4 crashes. The smallest I-495 entry on the list, recorded under a route-code-only name. Franklin recorded 890 crashes and 4 fatal, a rate of 4.5 per 1,000. See Franklin crash data.

What the Corridor Average Hides

Add the twelve communities together and the three-year totals are 26,958 crashes, 66 fatal, 5,682 involving injury, 162 involving a bicycle, and 299 involving a pedestrian. The corridor fatal rate is 2.4 per 1,000, which is slightly below the statewide 2.68 and, taken alone, would suggest the I-495 towns are unremarkable.

That average is misleading, and the reason is worth understanding.

Two dense cities, Haverhill and Lawrence, contribute 10,202 crashes, more than a third of the corridor total, at fatal rates of 0.8 and 0.9. They pull the average down hard. Strip them out and the remaining ten communities recorded 16,756 crashes and 57 fatal, a rate of 3.4 per 1,000, meaningfully above the statewide figure. The outer suburban and rural towns on the highway are where the lethality sits: Littleton at 7.2, Chelmsford at 5.2, Wrentham at 4.7, Franklin at 4.5, Amesbury at 3.4, Westford at 3.0.

This is the same pattern documented in the Interstate 93 crash data, Merrimack Valley crash data, and Bristol County crash data pieces. Dense communities generate many crashes at low speed. Highway and rural communities generate fewer crashes at high speed, and those crashes are far more likely to be catastrophic. Crash volume tracks traffic. Crash lethality tracks speed and road type.

For anyone injured on this highway, the practical consequence is that an I-495 crash tends to be a serious-injury case rather than a fender bender, which changes the medical course, the claim, and the timeline. The serious injury threshold article explains when Massachusetts law allows a claim for pain and suffering to proceed past the no-fault limits, and what is my case worth covers how damages are assessed.

Interstate 495 Has at Least Three Names in the Crash Records

If you take one practical thing from this data, take this one, because it affects your own crash report.

I-495 does not appear under a single name in the Massachusetts crash records. Chelmsford alone carries it under two different spellings, “Interstate 495 Rte I495 N” at 37 crashes and a separate “I495 N Rte” entry at 9. Hopkinton splits it three ways: “Interstate 495 Rte I495 N” at 7, “I495 N Rte” at 6, and “I495 NB Rte” at 6. Littleton and Franklin use the “I495 NB” form as well.

Because those variants are counted as separate road entries, the statewide figure of 232 crashes for I-495 northbound in 2024 understates the highway’s true total. The 280 crashes counted across the twelve town lists in this piece is the closer number, and even that only counts the segments that made a town’s top eight.

This matters when you read the crash report an officer wrote about your own collision. The road name on that report may not say “Interstate 495” in a form that matches anything else in the file, and an adjuster working from the street name can place a crash in the wrong location, on the wrong roadway, or in the wrong direction of travel. Check the route designation, the exit number, and the direction of travel, and correct the record early if any of them is wrong. The how to report a car accident in Massachusetts article covers the reporting obligation and how to get a copy of the report.

Where an Interstate 495 Case Would Be Heard, and the Deadlines That Apply

The corridor crosses four counties, and venue follows the community rather than the highway.

Chelmsford, Hopkinton, Littleton, Westford, and Tewksbury sit in Middlesex County, under Middlesex Superior Court at 200 Trade Center in Woburn. Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, and Amesbury sit in Essex County, under Essex Superior Court at 56 Federal Street in Salem. Wrentham and Franklin sit in Norfolk County, under Norfolk Superior Court at 650 High Street in Dedham. Middleborough sits in Plymouth County, under Plymouth Superior Court at 72 Belmont Street in Brockton.

Most claims resolve before anything is filed anywhere. When a case does need to be filed, the general deadline for a Massachusetts personal injury action is three years from the date of the crash under M.G.L. c. 260, sec. 2A. Two much shorter clocks apply on a state highway.

If a public entity is any part of what happened, M.G.L. c. 258, sec. 4 requires a written claim presented to that public employer’s executive officer within two years after the cause of action arose, and bars any civil action brought more than three years after it accrued. For the Commonwealth and its agencies, that presentment goes to the attorney general. M.G.L. c. 258, sec. 2 also caps recovery against a public employer at $100,000, with no punitive damages and no interest before judgment.

If the claim is based on a defect in the state highway itself, it runs through M.G.L. c. 81, sec. 18, which makes the Commonwealth liable for defects within the limits of the constructed traveled roadway but only subject to the conditions in M.G.L. c. 84, secs. 15, 18, and 19, and caps recovery at $4,000. Section 18 of chapter 84 requires written notice of the injured person’s name and residence and the time, place, and cause of the injury within thirty days of the injury.

Thirty days is the number to remember. If a road condition, a work zone, or a state or municipal vehicle is part of what happened, that question needs an answer in weeks rather than years. The full picture is in can you sue the state or a city in Massachusetts, and the general rule and its exceptions are in the statute of limitations article.

A separate timing issue applies if a tractor-trailer was involved, which is a routine feature of crashes on a beltway route. Electronic logging data, driver qualification files, and maintenance records are subject to retention schedules that can expire while an injured person is still in treatment, so preservation requests are time-sensitive independent of any filing deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which Massachusetts highway has the most fatal crashes?

A: Interstate 495 northbound, which recorded 9 fatal crashes in 2024, the highest fatal count of any road entry in the Massachusetts crash records. The next group is a three-way tie at 3: I-93 northbound, the westbound Massachusetts Turnpike, and the southbound Pilgrim Highway on Route 3. I-495 southbound recorded 2 more, bringing the corridor to 11 fatal crashes in that year.

Q: Is Interstate 495 more dangerous than Interstate 93?

A: They are dangerous in different ways, and the data supports that distinction rather than a simple ranking. I-93 northbound recorded 444 crashes in 2024, fourth highest of any road entry statewide, against 232 for I-495 northbound, seventeenth. But on fatal crashes I-495 northbound led the state with 9 against I-93 northbound’s 3. Higher volume on I-93, higher lethality on I-495.

Q: Which Massachusetts town has the most Interstate 495 crashes?

A: Chelmsford, with 65 in 2024, split across northbound at 37, southbound at 19, and a third variant entry at 9. Northbound and southbound I-495 are the number one and number two highest-crash roads in Chelmsford, ahead of Route 3. Andover is second at 57, and Haverhill third at 35.

Q: Which community on the I-495 corridor has the highest fatal crash rate?

A: Littleton, at 7.2 fatal crashes per 1,000 crashes, from 7 fatal among 973 total across 2022 through 2024. That is nearly three times the statewide rate of 2.68 per 1,000. Chelmsford follows at 5.2 with the corridor’s highest absolute fatal count, 11. At the other end, Haverhill recorded 0.8 and Lawrence 0.9, both well below the statewide figure.

Q: Why does Interstate 495 appear under several different names in the crash data?

A: Because the records use whatever road name was entered locally rather than one standard highway name. Chelmsford carries both “Interstate 495” and a separate “I495 N” entry. Hopkinton splits the same highway three ways, including an “I495 NB” form also used in Littleton and Franklin. Those variants are counted separately, which means the statewide figure of 232 for I-495 northbound understates the highway’s real total. Checking the route designation rather than the street name on your own crash report is worth the two minutes.

Q: Does a high fatal crash count on I-495 help prove the other driver was at fault?

A: No. Crash totals describe patterns across thousands of collisions and say nothing about responsibility in any single one. Fault in a Massachusetts injury claim is decided on the specific facts under the comparative negligence rule in M.G.L. c. 231, sec. 85, which reduces damages by the injured person’s own share of fault and bars recovery only if that share is greater than the combined negligence of the defendants.

Q: Where would a case from an Interstate 495 crash be filed?

A: It depends on the community and the amount in controversy. Chelmsford, Hopkinton, Littleton, Westford, and Tewksbury sit in Middlesex County under Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, and Amesbury sit in Essex County under Essex Superior Court in Salem. Wrentham and Franklin sit in Norfolk County under Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham. Middleborough sits in Plymouth County under Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton. Most claims resolve before any filing.

Q: How long do I have to bring a claim after a crash on I-495?

A: Generally three years from the date of the crash under M.G.L. c. 260, sec. 2A. Shorter clocks apply if a public entity is involved. M.G.L. c. 258, sec. 4 requires a written claim presented to the public employer’s executive officer within two years after the cause of action arose, and for the Commonwealth and its agencies that presentment goes to the attorney general. A claim based on a defect in the state highway itself runs through M.G.L. c. 81, sec. 18, which incorporates the conditions of M.G.L. c. 84, secs. 15, 18, and 19, including the requirement in section 18 that written notice be given within thirty days.

Q: Is Jimmy Knows AI giving me legal advice?

A: No. This is general information about Massachusetts law and publicly available crash data, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. How any rule applies depends entirely on the facts of a specific situation. For advice about a specific matter, speak with a Massachusetts attorney. The Jim Glaser Law line is answered 24 hours a day at (617) JIM-WINS, and the first telephone consultation is free.