A crash report is a document, not an event. Counting documents and counting danger are related exercises, but they are not the same one, and in Massachusetts the distance between them is written directly into the law that requires the paperwork.
That distinction explains a great deal about which Boston intersections appear at the top of official lists, and why some of the city’s genuinely lethal stretches of road do not.
Massachusetts makes the driver file, not just the police
Most people assume a crash report is something an officer writes. In Massachusetts, the driver has an independent obligation.
Under Chapter 90, Section 26 of the Massachusetts General Laws, every operator involved in a crash in which anyone is killed or injured, or in which there is damage above one thousand dollars to any one vehicle or other property, must report in writing to the Registrar within five days and send a copy to the police department with jurisdiction over the road where it happened…