ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · AMHERST, MA · AUGUST 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/amherst/august-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
22 CRASHES IN
AMHERST, MA
AUGUST 2023
In August 2023, Amherst experienced 22 total crashes, marking a 24.14% decrease from the 29 crashes reported in August 2022. A significant year-over-year shift was the absence of any fatal crashes or DUI-related crashes in the current period, compared to one fatal crash and five DUI crashes in the prior period. Despite the overall decrease in crashes, total injuries increased by 75% from 8 to 14.
22
▼ -24.1%was 29
Total Crash Events
0
▼ -100.0%was 1
Persons Killed
14
▲ 75.0%was 8
Persons Injured
1
▼ -50.0%was 2
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.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall crash activity in Amherst showed a downward trend in total crashes, decreasing by 24.14% from 29 in August 2022 to 22 in August 2023. This reduction in total crashes was accompanied by a 100% decrease in fatalities, from 1 to 0. However, total injuries increased by 75%, rising from 8 to 14.
1
Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023
▼ -50.0% vs prior (2)
The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased by 50% year-over-year, from 2 in August 2022 to 1 in August 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also trended downwards, falling from 6.9% in the prior period to 4.5% in the current period. Both the count and rate indicate a positive trend in reducing hit-and-run incidents.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Motorists Killed
14
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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 year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in August 2022 (8 crashes) to Tuesday in August 2023 (6 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes changed from 4 p.m. in the prior period (5 crashes) to 6 p.m. in the current period (4 crashes). Notably, crashes on Wednesdays saw a significant decrease from 8 to 3.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The fatal crash rate decreased from 3.45% in August 2022 to 0% in August 2023, with no fatal crashes reported in the current period. However, the proportion of injury-involved crashes increased, with 36.4% of crashes resulting in some form of injury (serious, minor, or possible) in August 2023, up from 17.2% in August 2022. Specifically, crashes with possible injuries (severity C) rose from 1 to 4, and serious injury crashes (severity A) increased from 0 to 1.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Among contributing factors, 'Inattention' decreased significantly by 66.7% in count, from 9 crashes in August 2022 to 3 crashes in August 2023. 'No improper driving' also saw a substantial decrease, from 7 crashes to 2 crashes, representing a 71.4% reduction in count. Conversely, 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' emerged as a top factor in August 2023 with 3 crashes, not being a prominent factor in the prior period.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
The proportion of crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 75.9% in August 2022 to 68.2% in August 2023, while crashes in adverse weather conditions (rain, cloudy) increased from 13.8% to 31.8%. Despite this, the proportion of crashes on dry road surfaces remained stable, at approximately 90% in both periods. Crashes occurring during dark conditions decreased from 24.1% in the prior period to 13.6% in the current period.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Top Vehicle Makes (38 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records
2 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (56 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in the 25 MPH speed zone decreased from 7 in August 2022 to 5 in August 2023, and those in the 35 MPH zone decreased from 8 to 7. The prior period recorded crashes across a broader range of speed limits, from 10 MPH to 55 MPH, including one fatal crash in a 50 MPH zone. In contrast, crashes in August 2023 were concentrated between 25 MPH and 40 MPH, with no fatal crashes in any speed zone.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: AMHERST, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 22
- Total persons involved: 58
- Total vehicles involved: 38
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). "AMHERST, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/amherst/august-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
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-08-01 – 2023-08-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved