Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

23 CRASHES IN
ASHLAND, MA
FEBRUARY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2022

February 2023 saw 23 crashes in ASHLAND, a 9.52% increase from the 21 crashes reported in February 2022. Despite the rise in total crashes, fatalities remained at zero for both periods. The most notable shift was a significant increase in crashes categorized as "Serious Injury" (Severity A), rising from 0 in the prior year to 2 in the current period.

23

9.5%was 21

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

5

Persons Injured

0

Fatal Crash Events

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in ASHLAND show a slight upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 9.52% from 21 in February 2022 to 23 in February 2023. Despite this increase in total crashes, the number of total injuries remained stable at 5 in both periods, and no fatalities were reported in either month.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 40.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · 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 February 2023, crashes peaked on Monday and Tuesday with 6 incidents each, whereas in February 2022, the peak day was Wednesday with 5 crashes. The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 9 AM with 4 crashes in the prior year to 7 PM with 3 crashes in the current year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While the total number of injured persons remained stable at 5 in both February 2022 and February 2023, the distribution of crash severity changed. The current period recorded 2 crashes with serious injuries (Severity A), compared to none in the prior period. Conversely, crashes with minor injuries (Severity B) decreased from 3 in February 2022 to 1 in February 2023, even as the total number of crashes with any injury increased from 4 to 5.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes8.7%
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes4.3%
-66.7%prior 3
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes8.7%
100.0%prior 1
No Injury16no injury crashes69.6%
-5.9%prior 17

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, "No improper driving" increased significantly by 500%, from 1 crash in February 2022 to 6 crashes in February 2023. "Failed to yield right of way" also saw a 150% increase, rising from 2 to 5 crashes. Conversely, "Inattention" decreased by 80%, from 5 crashes in the prior year to 1 crash in the current year, and "Driving too fast for conditions" decreased by 33.33%, from 3 crashes to 2 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (26.1%)
Failed to yield right of way5 (21.7%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (8.7%)
Other improper action2 (8.7%)
Made an improper turn1 (4.3%)
Followed too closely1 (4.3%)
Inattention1 (4.3%)-80.0%prior 5
Distracted1 (4.3%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 10 in February 2022 to 17 in February 2023, while crashes on wet surfaces decreased from 7 to 3. There was a notable shift in lighting conditions, with crashes occurring in "Dark - lighted roadway" increasing from 3 to 9, and crashes in "Daylight" decreasing from 16 to 10. Weather conditions remained largely consistent, with 15 crashes occurring in clear weather in both periods.

Weather

Clear15 (65.2%)
0.0%prior 15
Cloudy3 (13.0%)
Snow2 (8.7%)
Rain1 (4.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (4.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Snow1 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight10 (43.5%)
-37.5%prior 16
Dark - lighted roadway9 (39.1%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (8.7%)
Dawn2 (8.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry17 (73.9%)
70.0%prior 10
Snow3 (13.0%)
Wet3 (13.0%)
-57.1%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (37 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (35.1%)
44.4%prior 9
2
HONDA5 (13.5%)
3
CHEVROLET2 (5.4%)
4
SUBARU2 (5.4%)
5
FORD2 (5.4%)
6
JEEP2 (5.4%)
7
BUIC2 (5.4%)
8
KIA2 (5.4%)
9
AUDI1 (2.7%)
10
CADI1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (44 persons with recorded sex)

Female28 (63.6%)
100.0%prior 14
Male16 (36.4%)
-27.3%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph speed zones saw a 200% increase, rising from 1 crash in February 2022 to 3 crashes in February 2023. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased by 20%, from 10 crashes to 8 crashes. The number of crashes in 35 mph speed zones remained constant at 10 for both periods, and no fatalities were recorded in any speed zone in either year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · 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: 2023-02-01 through 2023-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-02-01 through 2023-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: ASHLAND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 23
  • Total persons involved: 45
  • Total vehicles involved: 37

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). "ASHLAND, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/ashland/february-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

Ashland, MA Crash Report — February 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com