Peabody Car Crashes On The Decline

PEABODY, MA — There were 979 motor vehicle crashes in Peabody last year, the lowest total since 2010, according to data from the Massachusetts Department on Transportation. And the number of car crashes in Peabody declined every year since 2016, when Peabody had 1,493 crashes. The number of crashes resulting injuries also declined in each of the past five years.

The decline in the number of crashes in Peabody bucks state trends. Across Massachusetts, the number of crashes dropped slightly in 2019 and 2018 after increasing in each of the eight previous years.

On average, Peabody has two fatal car crashes each year and that number has held relatively steady since 2007, the furthest year back for which data is available. Most crashes, fatal or otherwise, occur on Route One, followed by the intersection of Lowell and Endicott Streets, the intersection of Central and Tremont Streets and Andover Street.

"I can’t comment on all of Peabody, but on Lowell Street in the vicinity of Rolling Hills, the high school and Rt 1 there seems to be lots of senseless car accidents," Patch reader Christina Baran said when we asked readers about the most dangerous roads and intersections in Peabody. "It would really help if people would just follow and respect some of the basic rules of the road like stop at stop signs and stop at red lights."

Of the 979 crashes in Peabody in 2019, 194 were classified as "older-driver related" and 158 were classified as "young-driver related." There were 21 crashes involving motorcycles, nine involving pedestrians, and six involving bicycles.