Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

64 CRASHES IN
AUBURN, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

Total crashes in Auburn remained stable at 64 in October 2023, identical to October 2022. While fatalities remained at zero for both periods, total injuries increased from 15 to 17, representing a 13.3% rise. The most notable shift was the increase in crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely', which rose by 42.9% year-over-year.

64

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

17

13.3%was 15

Persons Injured

4

-20.0%was 5

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall number of crashes in Auburn remained stable year-over-year, with 64 crashes reported in both October 2023 and October 2022. Total fatalities remained at zero in both periods. However, total injuries increased by 13.3%, from 15 in the prior period to 17 in the current period.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023

-20.0% vs prior (5)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 5 in October 2022 to 4 in October 2023. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate also saw a decrease, moving from 7.8% in the prior period to 6.3% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

17

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1513.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted significantly year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday with 15 crashes in October 2022 to Monday with 18 crashes in October 2023. Similarly, the peak hour shifted from 3 PM with 9 crashes in the prior period to 12 PM with 10 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero for both October 2023 and October 2022. Total injuries increased from 15 in the prior period to 17 in the current period. Notably, serious injuries (Severity A) decreased from 1 crash in October 2022 to 0 in October 2023, while possible injuries (Severity C) increased from 2 crashes to 5 crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury6minor injury crashes9.4%
-33.3%prior 9
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes7.8%
150.0%prior 2
No Injury52no injury crashes81.3%
2.0%prior 51

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'Followed too closely', increased by 6 crashes, from 14 in October 2022 to 20 in October 2023. 'No improper driving' also saw an increase of 3 crashes, rising from 11 to 14. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 3 crashes, from 11 to 8, and 'Inattention' decreased by 2 crashes, from 6 to 4.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely20 (31.3%)42.9%prior 14
No improper driving14 (21.9%)27.3%prior 11
Failed to yield right of way8 (12.5%)-27.3%prior 11
Inattention4 (6.3%)-33.3%prior 6
Visibility obstructed4 (6.3%)
Driving too fast for conditions3 (4.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (3.1%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.6%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.6%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions slightly decreased from 45 in the prior period to 43 in the current period, while 'Rain' condition crashes increased from 5 to 7. Under 'Daylight' conditions, crashes increased from 47 to 51. Crashes occurring in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions saw a substantial decrease from 10 to 3, and 'Dark - lighted roadway' crashes decreased from 7 to 5.

Weather

Clear43 (68.3%)
-4.4%prior 45
Rain7 (11.1%)
40.0%prior 5
Cloudy4 (6.3%)
-20.0%prior 5
Clear/Other3 (4.8%)
Clear/Unknown2 (3.2%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (3.2%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.6%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight51 (79.7%)
8.5%prior 47
Dark - lighted roadway5 (7.8%)
-28.6%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (4.7%)
-70.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (3.1%)
Dusk2 (3.1%)
Dawn1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry53 (82.8%)
0.0%prior 53
Wet11 (17.2%)
0.0%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes slightly increased from 122 in October 2022 to 124 in October 2023. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, with its count increasing from 18 to 25. Significant shifts in age distribution include a decrease in persons aged 0-15 (from 7 to 2) and 16-20 (from 23 to 13), while persons aged 26-34 increased from 24 to 31, and those 65+ increased from 9 to 19.

Top Vehicle Makes (124 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA25 (20.2%)
38.9%prior 18
2
HONDA11 (8.9%)
-15.4%prior 13
3
SUBARU9 (7.3%)
50.0%prior 6
4
FORD9 (7.3%)
-10.0%prior 10
5
CHEVROLET9 (7.3%)
12.5%prior 8
6
VOLKSWAGEN7 (5.6%)
7
NISSAN7 (5.6%)
40.0%prior 5
8
JEEP5 (4%)
-54.5%prior 11
9
RAM3 (2.4%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (133 persons with recorded sex)

Male80 (60.2%)
23.1%prior 65
Female53 (39.8%)
-29.3%prior 75

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 65 mph speed zones increased from 20 in October 2022 to 24 in October 2023. There was also an increase in crashes in 30 mph zones, rising from 9 to 16. Conversely, crashes in 40 mph zones decreased from 16 to 9. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: AUBURN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 64
  • Total persons involved: 143
  • Total vehicles involved: 124

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). "AUBURN, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/auburn/october-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

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Auburn, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com