Fatal car crashes in Boston, MA: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 109 fatal crashes inside Boston, in which 116 people died. The roads with the most were I-93 with 11 fatal crashes, I-90 with 8 and Washington St with 6.

Filing deadline, fault rule, insurance and the court for a crash in Boston: Boston, MA injury guide.

From 2020 through 2024, NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) records 109 fatal crashes in Boston that killed 116 people. No Massachusetts place recorded more deaths; Springfield, second among the 243 places with fatal crashes coded to them, had 93, and Worcester 46. Suffolk County's records list 131 fatal crashes and 138 deaths, and 109 of those crashes, 83 percent, were in the city. Across Massachusetts, the five years produced 1,806 fatal crashes and 1,896 deaths.

Deaths in Boston ran 18, 29, 24, 18 and 27 from 2020 through 2024, and fatal crashes 18, 27, 22, 17 and 25. The 2023 low was followed by a count close to the 2021 peak, but NHTSA may still revise 2024, and a swing of 8 crashes in one year is not enough to call a trend. The five-year totals are used below for that reason.

This article keeps two measures apart, because one crash can kill several people: fatal crashes, which number 109, and deaths, which number 116. Both come from FARS, NHTSA's record of crashes on public roads in which someone died within 30 days, assigned to Boston when the reporting agency coded the city. NHTSA's Final Files cover 2020 through 2023; the 2024 figures are from the Annual Report File, a first release that may change.

Pedestrians make up a larger part of Boston's toll than any group except drivers. Of the 116 people killed, 53 were drivers and 42 were pedestrians, 36 percent of all deaths. Eleven passengers, 5 bicyclists and 5 people on a personal conveyance, such as a wheelchair or skateboard, account for the rest. In all, 52 of the dead, 45 percent, were outside a vehicle.

The crash records point the same way. Striking a pedestrian was the first harmful event in 39 of Boston's 109 fatal crashes, more often than a collision with another motor vehicle in transport, which came first in 31; a bicyclist was struck first in 5 and a person on a personal conveyance in 5. Fifty-two crashes, 48 percent, involved someone who was not in a vehicle. The 116 deaths also include 21 people on a motorcycle or moped, 18 percent, who are counted among the drivers and passengers above.

For a pedestrian claim, the questions are usually where the person was crossing, what the signal showed, how well the spot was lit and whether the driver should have seen them in time. Those facts fade quickly: camera recordings are overwritten and witnesses move on. With 59 of Boston's fatal crashes after dark, photographs taken at the same hour as the crash can show what a driver could and could not see.

The interstates carry the largest counts in the roads table above: 11 fatal crashes on I-93, which killed 12 people, most recently in 2024, and 8 on I-90, which killed 8, most recently in 2023. Those two roads account for 19 of Boston's 109 fatal crashes, 17 percent. Washington St ranks third with 6 fatal crashes and Massachusetts Ave fourth with 4, each with one as recently as 2024.

Below them the counts are small. Chelsea St and Soldiers Field Rd each had 3 fatal crashes that killed 4 people, and Columbia Rd had 3 crashes and 3 deaths. Morrissey Blvd had 2 fatal crashes but 4 deaths, the most deaths per crash among the ten rows, and A St and Albany St had 2 crashes and 2 deaths each, all three most recently in 2024. The ten rows add up to 44 fatal crashes, 40 percent of the total, and a road's place on the list says nothing about fault in any single crash.

Evenings had the most fatal crashes. The six hours from 6 p.m. to midnight produced 38 fatal crashes and the next six, to 6 a.m., another 27: 65 of 109, or 60 percent. Daytime crashes split almost evenly, 23 in the afternoon and 21 in the morning. After dark accounts for 59 crashes: 57 under street lighting, 1 on an unlit road and 1 where the lighting was not known. Daylight saw 41, dusk 2, and 7 carry no light condition.

Saturday had the most fatal crashes, 23, but Tuesday, with 19, and Wednesday, with 17, came next, ahead of Sunday's 15; Monday and Friday had 12 each and Thursday 11. Single-vehicle crashes made up 69 of the 109, two-vehicle crashes 31 and crashes involving three or more 9. Intersections figure heavily: 58 crashes, 53 percent, happened at one or were related to one, while FARS placed 39 at no junction of any kind.

Only 31 of Boston's fatal crashes began with a collision with another vehicle in transport. FARS counts these as collisions with a motor vehicle in transport, a term that covers a vehicle stopped in the roadway as well as one moving. Fifteen were angle crashes, in which one vehicle hits the side of another; head-on crashes numbered 7, sideswipes 5 and rear-end crashes 3, and 1 has no manner recorded. When the first thing struck was neither a person nor another vehicle, it was most often a curb (9 crashes) or a concrete traffic barrier (6).

Consider an invented case. You are in a Boston crosswalk after dark when a driver turning left strikes you. A broken leg brings $60,000 in medical bills and four months away from work. Massachusetts is a no-fault state, so personal injury protection (PIP) coverage generally pays the first medical bills and part of the lost wages regardless of fault; for a pedestrian, which policy's PIP applies depends on the facts.

Losses beyond PIP, and pain and suffering if the injury meets the threshold set by Massachusetts law, can generally be claimed from the driver. Suppose it does, and a jury values your total damages at $150,000. The driver's insurer says you started crossing against the signal, and the jury puts 30 percent of the fault on you. Massachusetts's modified comparative negligence rule (51% bar) reduces the award by your share, to $105,000; had the jury found you more than 50 percent at fault, you would recover nothing from the driver.

Massachusetts requires at least 25/50/30 in liability coverage: $25,000 for each injured person, up to $50,000 for all injuries in one accident, and $30,000 for property damage. A driver carrying only the minimum would have $25,000 for your injury claim against a $105,000 award, and whether any other coverage helps depends on the policies involved. The three-year deadline under M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A keeps running meanwhile, and only an attorney can evaluate a real claim.

Under M.G.L. c. 90, § 26, a crash that kills or injures anyone, or causes more than $1,000 of damage to any one vehicle or other property, triggers a written report from every driver involved. It goes to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles within five days, on the form the Registrar approves, with a copy to the police department where the crash happened. If the driver cannot make the report and is not the owner, the owner reports instead.

For a pedestrian or cyclist, the most useful evidence is often the least lasting: the signal phase, the crosswalk markings, the street lighting and footage from cameras on nearby buildings. Treatment records matter as much, because an insurer will look closely at any gap between the crash and the first visit to a doctor. A short checklist for the first days:

• After calling 911, write down which police agency came and the number on its report.
• Send the written report to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles within five days, with the copy to the local police (M.G.L. c. 90, § 26).
• Photograph the crosswalk lines, the walk signal, any street lights and the spot where the car came to rest.
• Ask nearby businesses to keep their camera footage, and write down witnesses' contact details.
• See a doctor that day, even for injuries that seem minor.
• Tell your own insurer, and ask which policy's PIP coverage applies to you.

Massachusetts generally allows three years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A). A suit over a Boston crash is typically filed in the Suffolk County Superior Court, the trial court for Suffolk County, although some cases belong in a different court, and an attorney determines which. Most claims settle before trial, but an insurer's offer reflects whether a lawsuit could still be filed.

Missing the deadline generally ends the claim, whatever the evidence shows, and talking with an insurer does not pause the clock. The period has exceptions, and a claim over a death can be on a different schedule. In a pedestrian case, where the dispute is usually about each side's share of fault, the evidence gathered in the first weeks tends to matter more than the time left before the deadline.

Three Massachusetts rules decide most of a Boston claim, and in pedestrian cases the middle one usually matters most. First, no-fault insurance makes PIP the first source of payment for medical bills and part of lost wages. Second, modified comparative negligence (51% bar) lets an injured person recover as long as they were not more than 50 percent at fault, with the award reduced by their share. Third, M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A generally sets three years to sue.

A pedestrian in the same position would fare worse in some states. Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia follow contributory negligence, under which a pedestrian found even slightly at fault can generally recover nothing; the 30 percent share in the example could end the claim there. Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey also run no-fault systems, each with its own coverage and lawsuit rules, and Tennessee gives one year for most injury claims. For an injury at work, Massachusetts workers' compensation may also apply: notify your employer as soon as practicable (M.G.L. c. 152, § 41) and generally file within four years with the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents.

Ask Legal Matters is a personal injury lead-generation service that collects free case review requests from injured people in the United States and shares them with independent attorneys and law firms. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Massachusetts. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, so the fee is a share of any recovery. Whether a pedestrian, rider or driver has a claim depends on facts an attorney must evaluate. If you were hurt in a crash in Boston, you can request a free case review.

• What do federal records show about fatal car crashes in Springfield?
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• What should you do after a car accident?
• How do you file a car accident insurance claim?

More on this type of claim: Car accidents: evidence, deadlines and when to ask an attorney.

• Boston, Massachusetts: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation

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