Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

316 CRASHES IN
BELMONT, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Belmont, total traffic crashes increased by 8.6% from 291 incidents in 2022 to 316 in 2023. During this period, total injuries rose from 76 to 96, while fatalities remained at zero in both years. The most notable year-over-year shift was a 51.9% increase in the number of hit-and-run crashes, which grew from 27 to 41 incidents.

316

8.6%was 291

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

96

26.3%was 76

Persons Injured

41

51.9%was 27

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

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

Trend Summary

The overall trend in traffic collisions shows an increase year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 8.6%, from 291 in 2022 to 316 in 2023. Similarly, the number of people injured in these incidents increased by 26.3%, from 76 to 96, while no fatalities were recorded in either year.

41

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

51.9% vs prior (27)

Hit-and-run crashes showed a significant upward trend. The absolute count of hit-and-run incidents increased by 51.9%, from 27 in 2022 to 41 in 2023. The hit-and-run rate, representing the share of all crashes that were hit-and-runs, also rose from 9.3% in the prior year to 13.0% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

7

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3133.3%

10

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 911.1%

76

Motorists Injured

Prior: 6320.6%

3

Other Injured

Prior: 1200.0%

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

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Wednesday with 63 incidents, a change from 2022 when Thursday was the peak day with 55 crashes. The peak hour also moved later in the afternoon, from 3 p.m. in 2022 (30 crashes) to 5 p.m. in 2023 (33 crashes).

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity saw an increase in injuries, though no fatalities were recorded in either 2022 or 2023. The proportion of crashes resulting in an injury of any type rose from 21.3% in 2022 to 26.0% in 2023. This included a rise in serious injury crashes from 5 to 7 and minor injury crashes from 44 to 52.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury7serious injury crashes2.2%
40.0%prior 5
Minor Injury52minor injury crashes16.5%
18.2%prior 44
Possible Injury23possible injury crashes7.3%
76.9%prior 13
No Injury219no injury crashes69.3%
3.3%prior 212

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

The primary contributing factors remained consistent, though their counts changed. "Failed to yield right of way" continued to be a leading factor, with its incident count increasing from 51 in 2022 to 55 in 2023. Crashes attributed to "Inattention" also rose from 25 to 28 incidents, while those related to "Followed too closely" decreased slightly from 26 to 25.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving80 (25.3%)5.3%prior 76
Failed to yield right of way55 (17.4%)7.8%prior 51
Inattention28 (8.9%)12.0%prior 25
Followed too closely25 (7.9%)-3.8%prior 26
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road12 (3.8%)9.1%prior 11
Other improper action12 (3.8%)33.3%prior 9
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner10 (3.2%)25.0%prior 8
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings7 (2.2%)40.0%prior 5
Over-correcting/over-steering6 (1.9%)
Distracted5 (1.6%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Driving conditions saw a notable shift toward a higher number of crashes on wet roads, which increased from 41 incidents (14.1% of all crashes) in 2022 to 61 incidents (19.3%) in 2023. Correspondingly, the share of crashes on dry roads decreased from 79.0% to 78.8%. Crashes in daylight conditions remained the majority but their proportion fell from 78.4% to 73.7% of all incidents.

Weather

Clear170 (54.3%)
23.2%prior 138
Cloudy39 (12.5%)
44.4%prior 27
Clear/Clear31 (9.9%)
-50.0%prior 62
Rain19 (6.1%)
26.7%prior 15
Rain/Cloudy11 (3.5%)
Cloudy/Unknown10 (3.2%)
25.0%prior 8
Cloudy/Rain8 (2.6%)
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (1.0%)
Snow3 (1.0%)
-70.0%prior 10
Rain/Rain2 (0.6%)

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

Lighting

Daylight233 (74.2%)
2.2%prior 228
Dark - lighted roadway59 (18.8%)
13.5%prior 52
Dusk17 (5.4%)
142.9%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (1.0%)
Dawn1 (0.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.3%)

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

Road Surface

Dry249 (79.3%)
8.3%prior 230
Wet61 (19.4%)
48.8%prior 41
Snow3 (1.0%)
-62.5%prior 8
Ice1 (0.3%)
-85.7%prior 7

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The most common vehicle makes involved in crashes remained consistent, with Toyota and Honda leading in both years; Toyota-involved crashes increased from 102 to 118, and Honda-involved crashes rose from 71 to 77. The age demographics of persons involved in crashes shifted, with the 35-44 age group decreasing from 115 to 95 individuals, while the 26-34 age group saw an increase from 81 to 96 individuals.

Top Vehicle Makes (561 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA118 (21%)
15.7%prior 102
2
HONDA77 (13.7%)
8.5%prior 71
3
FORD45 (8%)
-16.7%prior 54
4
SUBARU31 (5.5%)
14.8%prior 27
5
CHEVROLET28 (5%)
40.0%prior 20
6
NISSAN25 (4.5%)
13.6%prior 22
7
JEEP20 (3.6%)
-20.0%prior 25
8
BMW19 (3.4%)
171.4%prior 7
9
HYUNDAI17 (3%)
13.3%prior 15
10
MAZDA16 (2.9%)
60.0%prior 10

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

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

Sex Distribution (597 persons with recorded sex)

Male325 (54.4%)
6.2%prior 306
Female272 (45.6%)
-0.7%prior 274

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

Speed Limit Zones

The vast majority of crashes in both years occurred in 25 mph speed zones, where the count of incidents increased from 270 in 2022 to 300 in 2023. Crashes in zones with speed limits of 55 mph or higher were infrequent and remained stable, with 7 incidents in 2022 and 6 in 2023. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 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: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: BELMONT, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 316
  • Total persons involved: 663
  • Total vehicles involved: 561

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). "BELMONT, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/belmont/2023-annual-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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Belmont, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com