Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

17 CRASHES IN
ADAMS, MA
DECEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2022

In December 2023, ADAMS experienced 17 total crashes, an 88.9% increase compared to the 9 crashes reported in December 2022. The most notable shift was the more than doubling of total injuries, rising from 1 in the prior period to 5 in the current period. This period also saw an increase in hit-and-run crashes and a shift in peak crash days.

17

88.9%was 9

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

5

400.0%was 1

Persons Injured

2

100.0%was 1

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (0) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (0) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash activity year-over-year. Total crashes rose from 9 in December 2022 to 17 in December 2023, representing an 88.9% increase. This upward trend suggests a substantial rise in crash incidents in the current period.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2023

100.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 1 incident in December 2022 to 2 incidents in December 2023. The hit-and-run rate saw a slight increase, moving from 11.1% of total crashes in the prior period to 11.8% in the current period. The count of hit-and-run crashes doubled year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1400.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. In December 2022, the peak day for crashes was Saturday with 2 incidents, and the peak hour was 8a with 2 incidents. In contrast, December 2023 saw Thursday as the peak day with 7 crashes, and 5p as the peak hour with 3 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

No fatalities were reported in either December 2022 or December 2023. Total injuries increased from 1 in the prior period to 5 in the current period. The prior period reported 1 serious injury (A), which constituted 11.1% of crashes, while the current period reported 4 minor injuries (B), representing 23.5% of crashes. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury decreased from 88.9% in December 2022 to 58.8% in December 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury4minor injury crashes23.5%
No Injury10no injury crashes58.8%
25.0%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors showed changes year-over-year. Crashes attributed to "No improper driving" increased from 3 in December 2022 to 7 in December 2023. "Inattention" also saw an increase, rising from 2 crashes in the prior period to 4 crashes in the current period. "Driving too fast for conditions" was a factor in 1 crash in December 2022 but was not among the listed factors for December 2023. "Visibility obstructed" and "Failed to yield right of way" each contributed to 1 crash in the current period, not appearing in the prior period's top factors.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving7 (41.2%)
Inattention4 (23.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (5.9%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5.9%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5.9%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (5.9%)
Followed too closely1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Under "Clear" weather conditions, crashes increased from 4 in December 2022 to 11 in December 2023. "Cloudy" conditions also saw an increase, from 1 crash to 4 crashes. "Daylight" crashes rose from 4 in the prior period to 7 in the current period, while "Dark - lighted roadway" crashes increased from 5 to 6. Crashes on "Dry" road surfaces increased from 6 to 13, and on "Wet" surfaces from 2 to 4.

Weather

Clear11 (64.7%)
Cloudy4 (23.5%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.9%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight7 (41.2%)
Dark - lighted roadway6 (35.3%)
20.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (17.6%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry13 (76.5%)
116.7%prior 6
Wet4 (23.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (30 vehicles)

1
JEEP5 (16.7%)
2
NISSAN3 (10%)
3
SUBARU3 (10%)
4
TOYOTA3 (10%)
5
FORD3 (10%)
6
HYUNDAI2 (6.7%)
7
GMC2 (6.7%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN1 (3.3%)
9
CHEVROLET1 (3.3%)
10
HONDA1 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

8 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (31 persons with recorded sex)

Male17 (54.8%)
183.3%prior 6
Female14 (45.2%)
366.7%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 4 in December 2022 to 6 in December 2023. Similarly, crashes in the 35 mph zone rose from 2 to 5 between the two periods. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased from 2 to 1. Additionally, crashes were reported in 10 mph (1 crash) and 45 mph (3 crashes) zones in the current period, which were not present in the prior period's data.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), accessed programmatically via the Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: ADAMS, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 17
  • Total persons involved: 38
  • Total vehicles involved: 30

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "ADAMS, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/adams/december-2023-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Adams, MA Crash Report — December 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com