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Northampton police report 511 traffic collisions in 2024; department highlights OUI enforcement and grant-funded patrols
Summary
Chief John Cartlidge presented the annual traffic safety report to the Transportation and Parking Commission: the department investigated 511 accidents in 2024 (including two fatal pedestrian crashes), made 60 OUI arrests or summonses, and used a Mass. Municipal Road Safety Program grant for targeted patrols.
Chief John Cartlidge presented the Northampton Police Department’s annual traffic safety report at the Transportation and Parking Commission meeting on March 18, detailing citations, collisions, impaired-driving enforcement and grant-funded patrol activity for 2024.
Cartlidge told the commission the department issued 3,203 motor-vehicle citations last year and recorded 2,523 warnings. Of enforcement actions with fines, 318 carried civil fines and 260 were criminal complaints that led to court summonses; 102 arrests resulted from those incidents. The department arrested or summonsed 60 drivers for operating under the influence (OUI) in 2024: 57 for alcohol and 3 for drugs; 11 of those were repeat offenses.
On collisions, the department investigated 511 motor-vehicle accidents during 2024. Of those, 421 involved personal injury or property damage exceeding $1,000; the chief reported two fatal pedestrian crashes and 14 collisions that injured pedestrians. Chief Cartlidge said the department will continue targeted enforcement and crash-data collection to support commission work and engineering recommendations.
Cartlidge highlighted the city’s participation in the Mass. Municipal Road Safety Program, noting the department received a $39,195.75 grant that funded additional patrols focused on seasonal campaigns—winter impaired driving, distracted driving, seat-belt enforcement, and speeding—yielding a series of targeted stops through the year. Cartlidge recommended reapplying for the grant annually and using grant funds for pedestrian and bicycle-safety enforcement and child passenger-safety education; he noted the department has two certified child-seat technicians.
Commissioners asked for more crash-level narrative in future packet materials to support learning about specific crash mechanisms and to inform targeted engineering treatments; Commissioner Randy Sailor asked for occasional case-level briefings on representative or difficult incidents.
The commission did not vote on any legislative or enforcement change at the meeting. The chief’s report will be retained as the annual record and staff will continue to provide data to the commission for ongoing traffic-calming and design work.
