Taraji was in Lawrence, Massachusetts Sunday on the set of her movie, "Proud Mary" ... shooting a scene where she was behind the wheel of the super expensive sports car. She had done 4 takes without incident, but on the fifth she cut the wheel too hard and slammed into the hydrant.

The "Empire" star was not hurt, but the Maserati was definitely the worse for wear. The hydrant had just gotten a fresh coat of paint so that's down the drain, but otherwise the car suffered way more damage.

Sounds like it was definitely an action shot ... they had been filming an explosion scene the entire day.

One production source said she wasn't the best driver. The good news ... we hear the movie is awesome.

As for the damage, a Maserati expert tells us it'll cost around $12k for proud Mary to keep on rollin'.