What Kind of Crash Is Most Common in Your Massachusetts Town?

In most Massachusetts towns the most common crash is a rear-end collision, but in the older cities it is the angle crash at an intersection, and in a handful of rural towns it is a single vehicle leaving the road: of the 116 communities with at least 1,000 crashes recorded from 2022 through 2024, rear-end collisions lead in 70, angle collisions in 29, single vehicle crashes in 16, and same-direction sideswipes in exactly one, Cambridge. The mix is not trivia. It follows the road network a town has, and it moves the severity numbers in a way the town’s total crash count never shows.

All figures on this page come from the MassDOT IMPACT open crash data for 2022, 2023 and 2024, which records 405,240 crashes statewide, grouped by town and by the manner of collision the reporting officer recorded. Your own town’s totals, injury and fatal counts and highest-crash roads are in the Massachusetts crash report.

Three Towns, Three Different Crash Problems

Weston is a rear-end town. Of 2,281 crashes in Weston over the three years, 45.7 per cent were rear-end collisions, the highest share of any Massachusetts community with at least 1,000 crashes. Angle collisions were 12.0 per cent, and head-on collisions only 1.7 per cent. The Massachusetts Turnpike appears three times among Weston’s highest-crash road entries for 2024, and a limited-access highway with merges and stop-and-go traffic produces exactly this profile: vehicles travelling the same direction, one running into the back of another.

Brockton is an angle town. Of 7,378 crashes in Brockton, 2,908 were angle collisions, 39.4 per cent, the highest angle share of any community with at least 1,000 crashes. Its highest-crash roads in 2024 were Main Street, Belmont Street, Pleasant Street and North Montello Street, surface streets with signals, side streets and left turns. An angle crash is what happens where paths cross, and Brockton’s share of crashes producing an injury, 35.3 per cent, is the highest of the 25 largest covered cities.

Westport is a single vehicle town. Of 1,108 crashes in Westport, 604 involved a single vehicle, 54.5 per cent, far above the next community on the list, Palmer at 40.5 per cent. Westport’s highest-crash roads are State Road, Main Road and American Legion Highway, long rural roads where the common crash is a car that leaves the lane rather than one that meets another car.

Three communities, three different mechanisms. The rest of this page shows where every large city falls and why it matters.

Where the 25 Largest Covered Cities Fall

The table below covers the 25 cities that carry full local pages on this site. Each share is that collision type as a percentage of all crashes recorded in the city from 2022 through 2024. Rear-end here combines two codes, explained in the next section.

City	Crashes, 2022 to 2024	Rear-end	Angle	Single vehicle	Sideswipe, same direction	Most common	Injury share
Boston	17,407	32.3%	15.1%	16.2%	18.8%	Rear-end	26.0%
Worcester	15,598	25.8%	31.8%	11.8%	18.5%	Angle	21.0%
Springfield	11,109	27.1%	31.2%	17.7%	15.7%	Angle	34.1%
New Bedford	11,070	21.5%	32.5%	12.5%	20.5%	Angle	21.0%
Fall River	9,045	23.6%	31.6%	15.5%	17.5%	Angle	25.3%
Lowell	7,781	24.5%	34.0%	8.9%	14.8%	Angle	22.7%
Brockton	7,378	22.5%	39.4%	19.3%	9.4%	Angle	35.3%
Taunton	6,644	27.2%	25.4%	18.5%	13.4%	Rear-end	19.2%
Quincy	6,455	28.4%	29.8%	14.2%	17.9%	Angle	20.3%
Lynn	6,074	21.1%	32.7%	15.3%	18.1%	Angle	27.9%
Lawrence	5,385	19.8%	37.4%	12.1%	17.6%	Angle	25.1%
Chicopee	5,238	31.8%	20.3%	18.5%	16.1%	Rear-end	22.8%
Newton	4,924	29.3%	27.0%	17.8%	18.0%	Rear-end	19.3%
Haverhill	4,815	24.3%	29.5%	20.6%	16.4%	Angle	20.0%
Cambridge	4,774	16.7%	27.0%	12.5%	27.1%	Sideswipe	23.0%
Framingham	4,359	29.6%	28.9%	18.6%	13.9%	Rear-end	23.9%
Waltham	4,333	26.1%	32.0%	14.1%	18.0%	Angle	17.7%
Medford	3,984	27.3%	25.4%	15.5%	20.9%	Rear-end	18.7%
Peabody	3,746	36.9%	24.1%	16.7%	13.3%	Rear-end	22.6%
Weymouth	3,384	31.0%	30.3%	16.5%	12.8%	Rear-end	25.4%
Malden	2,791	17.8%	29.4%	16.5%	18.2%	Angle	25.4%
Plymouth	2,735	27.3%	17.1%	33.5%	9.8%	Single vehicle	28.7%
Revere	2,298	35.2%	15.4%	22.5%	16.9%	Rear-end	31.0%
Somerville	1,999	25.5%	27.6%	19.5%	18.7%	Angle	31.3%
Brookline	1,231	20.0%	22.8%	18.9%	16.7%	Angle	24.0%

Two patterns stand out. The old mill and port cities, Lowell, Lawrence, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton and Worcester, are angle cities, with angle shares between 31 and 40 per cent against 23.91 per cent statewide. And Boston, despite its dense street grid, is a rear-end city at 32.3 per cent, with both directions of Interstate 93 and Storrow Drive as its three highest-crash road entries for 2024. Plymouth is the only one of the 25 where the single vehicle crash comes first, at 33.5 per cent. Cambridge is the only community of the 116 where the same-direction sideswipe leads, at 27.1 per cent, just ahead of its angle share of 27.0 per cent, which fits a city of narrow multi-lane avenues, parked cars and bicycle lanes.

The Two Codes That Make Towns Hard to Compare

Anyone downloading this data to check their own town should know about a quirk that changes the answer. MassDOT’s manner field carries both a Rear-end value and a separate Front to Rear value, and both a Head-on value and a separate Front to Front value, in every year from 2022 through 2024. They describe the same physical event, and which one appears depends largely on the reporting department.

The effect is not small. Among the 189 communities with at least 500 crashes, the alternate codes account for a median of about 7 per cent of crashes, but they reach 31 per cent in Westwood and 27 per cent in Salem, and in five towns with 300 or more crashes (Westwood, Salem, Westfield, Southbridge and Winthrop) the Front to Rear code is used more often than the Rear-end code itself. Using the Rear-end code alone, Westwood looks like a town where 19.1 per cent of crashes are rear-end collisions. Counting both codes, the figure is 44.5 per cent, the third highest in the state.

So every town comparison on this page combines Rear-end with Front to Rear, and Head-on with Front to Front. That is a deliberate choice for comparing towns, where a department’s habit would otherwise masquerade as a difference in roads. The statewide article on the most common crash type reports the codes separately, and it gives the same combined rear-end total used here: 113,682 crashes, 28.05 per cent of the statewide figure.

Answer Capsule

Across Massachusetts, rear-end collisions are the most common crash type in 70 of the 116 communities that recorded at least 1,000 crashes from 2022 through 2024, angle collisions in 29, single vehicle crashes in 16, and same-direction sideswipes in one, Cambridge. The extremes are Weston at 45.7 per cent rear-end, Brockton at 39.4 per cent angle and Westport at 54.5 per cent single vehicle. The mix tracks the road network: highway towns run rear-end, older cities with signalled grids run angle, rural towns run single vehicle. It also moves severity. The 15 most single-vehicle-heavy towns average 3.23 fatal crashes per 1,000 against 2.68 statewide, while the 15 most angle-heavy average an injury share of 25.48 per cent against 22.89 statewide. Source: MassDOT IMPACT open crash data, 405,240 crashes; rear-end and head-on each combine two codes the source uses for the same event.

Why the Mix Changes the Severity Numbers

Each collision type has its own severity, and statewide the differences are large. From 2022 through 2024, single vehicle crashes were fatal at 6.32 per 1,000 (585 of 92,621), while rear-end collisions were fatal at 0.79 per 1,000 and same-direction sideswipes at 0.65. Head-on collisions, counting both codes, were the deadliest at 10.59 per 1,000. Angle collisions sit in between on deaths, 1.70 per 1,000, but produce an injury in 26.63 per cent of cases, above rear-end collisions at 22.68 per cent and far above sideswipes at 10.29 per cent.

A town’s mix therefore pulls its numbers in a predictable direction, and grouping towns by their dominant type shows it:

Group of towns (15 each, all with 1,000+ crashes)	Crashes	Fatal per 1,000	Share with an injury
Most single-vehicle-heavy (Westport, Palmer, Westford, Charlton and others)	23,556	3.23	23.83%
Most angle-heavy (Brockton, Abington, Lawrence, Lowell and others)	87,735	2.02	25.48%
Most rear-end-heavy (Weston, Natick, Westwood, Reading and others)	28,157	2.02	22.43%
Massachusetts, all 349 communities	405,240	2.68	22.89%

The single-vehicle towns carry the highest fatal rate while their injury share barely moves; the angle towns carry the highest injury share while their fatal rate sits below the state’s. That is an inference from grouped data, not a measurement of any one crash, but it matches what the collision types do individually: a car leaving a rural road at speed is the crash most likely to kill its occupant, and two cars meeting at an intersection is the crash most likely to send someone to a doctor.

For anyone reading their own town’s page, the practical point is that a total crash count says how often, and the mix says what kind of crash the next one is likely to be.

How to Read Your Own Town’s Crash Mix

1. Start with the total. Find your community on the crash report and note its three-year crash count; shares from a town with fewer than a few hundred crashes swing on a handful of reports.
2. Combine the paired codes. If you pull MassDOT’s data yourself, add Front to Rear to Rear-end and Front to Front to Head-on before comparing towns.
3. Compare against the state, not the neighbour. Statewide, rear-end is 28.05 per cent, angle 23.91 per cent, single vehicle 22.86 per cent and same-direction sideswipe 13.75 per cent.
4. Match the mix to the roads. Check the town’s highest-crash roads on its crash report page: a highway entry near the top usually means a rear-end-heavy mix, and a list of signalled surface streets usually means angle.
5. Read severity by type, not by total. A town with a high single vehicle share should expect a higher fatal rate, and one with a high angle share a higher injury share, even when the totals look alike.
6. Set aside the unknowns. A few departments leave a large share uncoded; Cambridge recorded 495 crashes as Unknown and Lowell 605 as Not reported, so their named-type shares are understated rather than wrong.

What the Collision Type Means for a Claim

The data describes crashes, not cases, but the collision type is usually the first fact that shapes a claim, and each common type points to a different question.

Rear-end. The question is usually damages rather than fault, because the following driver is generally expected to leave enough room to stop. The harder questions are chain collisions and sudden stops, covered in who is at fault in a Massachusetts car accident.

Angle. The question is usually right of way. Under M.G.L. c. 89, sec. 8, when two vehicles enter an intersection at approximately the same instant, the vehicle on the left yields to the vehicle on the right; a driver turning left must yield to oncoming traffic until the turn can be made with reasonable safety; and a driver entering a rotary yields to vehicles already in it. Signals and signs displace those default rules where they apply. The full treatment is in intersection accident fault in Massachusetts.

Single vehicle. The question is often whether anyone besides the driver is responsible. Where a defect or want of repair in a public way caused the crash, M.G.L. c. 84, sec. 15 allows a claim against the town or other party obliged to repair it, with strict notice requirements set out in suing the government in Massachusetts. Where no one else is responsible, the personal injury protection coverage that M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 34M requires on every Massachusetts motor vehicle policy is the starting point for medical bills and lost wages, as set out in how PIP works in Massachusetts.

Sideswipe. The question is usually which vehicle left its lane, and the answer often turns on physical evidence and camera footage rather than the drivers’ accounts.

Comparing the Four Common Types

Collision type	Statewide share	Fatal per 1,000	Injury share	Usual first legal question
Rear-end (two codes combined)	28.05%	0.79	22.68%	Damages and chain-collision order
Angle	23.91%	1.70	26.63%	Right of way under c. 89, sec. 8
Single vehicle	22.86%	6.32	26.48%	Road defect, or the driver’s own PIP
Sideswipe, same direction	13.75%	0.65	10.29%	Which vehicle left its lane

Key terms

• Manner of collision: the field on a Massachusetts crash report that records how the vehicles first came together, such as rear-end, angle or head-on.
• Angle collision: a crash in which the vehicles meet at an angle, typically at an intersection or driveway where their paths cross.
• Single vehicle crash: a crash involving one motor vehicle, including a vehicle leaving the road, striking a fixed object, or striking a pedestrian or cyclist.
• Front to Rear: an alternate code in the MassDOT data describing the same event as a rear-end collision, used far more by some departments than others.
• Injury share: the percentage of a town’s crashes coded as producing a non-fatal injury.
• Fatal rate per 1,000: the number of crashes with a fatal injury for every 1,000 crashes recorded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the most common type of car crash in Massachusetts towns?

A: The rear-end collision. Of the 116 Massachusetts communities with at least 1,000 crashes recorded from 2022 through 2024, rear-end collisions were the most common type in 70, angle collisions in 29, single vehicle crashes in 16 and same-direction sideswipes in one.

Q: Which Massachusetts town has the highest share of rear-end crashes?

A: Weston, at 45.7 per cent of its 2,281 crashes from 2022 through 2024, followed by Natick at 44.6 per cent and Westwood at 44.5 per cent, counting both the Rear-end and Front to Rear codes.

Q: Which Massachusetts city has the most angle crashes?

A: By share, Brockton, where 2,908 of 7,378 crashes, 39.4 per cent, were angle collisions. Abington (37.7 per cent), Lawrence (37.4 per cent) and Lowell (34.0 per cent) follow. By raw count, larger cities such as Worcester and New Bedford record more angle crashes because they record more crashes overall.

Q: Where are single vehicle crashes most common in Massachusetts?

A: In rural towns. Westport leads at 54.5 per cent of its 1,108 crashes, followed by Palmer at 40.5 per cent. Among the 25 largest covered cities, Plymouth is the only one where the single vehicle crash is the most common type, at 33.5 per cent.

Q: Why does my town’s data show both Rear-end and Front to Rear?

A: MassDOT’s crash data carries both codes in every year from 2022 through 2024, and they describe the same event. How often each appears depends largely on the reporting department; in Westwood, Salem, Westfield, Southbridge and Winthrop the Front to Rear code is used more than Rear-end. Combine them before comparing towns.

Q: Does the type of crash affect how dangerous a town’s roads are?

A: It affects what the danger looks like. Statewide, single vehicle crashes are fatal at 6.32 per 1,000 and angle crashes produce an injury in 26.63 per cent of cases, against 0.79 per 1,000 and 22.68 per cent for rear-end collisions. Towns dominated by single vehicle crashes show higher fatal rates, and towns dominated by angle crashes show higher injury shares.

Q: Where does this data come from?

A: The MassDOT IMPACT open crash data for 2022, 2023 and 2024, 405,240 crashes statewide, grouped by city or town and by the manner of collision recorded on the crash report. The figures are what officers recorded, so a town with a large share of Unknown or Not reported entries understates its named types.

Q: Is Jimmy Knows AI giving me legal advice?

A: No. This is general information about Massachusetts crash data and law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether any of it applies to a particular crash depends on facts that are not in this article. For advice about a specific situation, speak with a Massachusetts attorney.

Talking to a Lawyer

Town-level data explains patterns, and a claim is always about one crash. The type recorded on the police report is a starting point that can be wrong, and the physical evidence, the scene and the witnesses decide what actually happened. The local pages for the largest cities, including Brockton car accidents, Lowell car accidents, Worcester car accidents and Boston car accidents, set out what a claim in that city involves, and the Plymouth car accident page covers the one large community where the single vehicle crash comes first.

Jim Glaser Law can be reached at (617) JIM-WINS. The line is answered 24 hours a day. The first telephone consultation is offered without charge. Cases accepted on a contingency basis carry no attorney fee unless there is a recovery, and case costs and expenses are addressed in the written fee agreement signed at intake.