Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

561 CRASHES IN
BILLERICA, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Billerica recorded 561 total traffic crashes, compared to 544 in 2022, representing a 3.1% increase in crash volume. While the total number of crashes rose, the number of people injured decreased by 24.1%, from 191 in 2022 to 145 in 2023. The most notable year-over-year shift was this decrease in injuries despite a slight increase in total collisions.

561

3.1%was 544

Total Crash Events

1

-50.0%was 2

Persons Killed

145

-24.1%was 191

Persons Injured

33

37.5%was 24

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 5 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

Overall, traffic crashes in Billerica showed a slight upward trend, increasing by 3.1% from 544 incidents in 2022 to 561 in 2023. Despite the rise in total crashes, the number of resulting injuries saw a significant decrease of 24.1% year-over-year. Fatalities also declined from two in 2022 to one in 2023.

33

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

37.5% vs prior (24)

Hit-and-run incidents trended upward in 2023. The total count of hit-and-run crashes increased by 37.5%, from 24 in 2022 to 33 in 2023. This increase also raised the hit-and-run rate, which is the percentage of all crashes that are hit-and-runs, from 4.4% in the prior year to 5.9% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1300.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 3-66.7%

139

Motorists Injured

Prior: 187-25.7%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 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 temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two years. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Tuesday with 105 incidents, a change from Friday (94 incidents) in 2022. The peak hour also shifted later in the day, from the 2 p.m. hour in 2022 (50 crashes) to the 5 p.m. hour in 2023 (56 crashes), aligning more with the evening commute.

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

The severity of crashes decreased from 2022 to 2023. The fatal crash rate fell from 0.37% to 0.18% of all crashes, with the count of fatal incidents dropping from two to one. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) also decreased from 27.2% of all crashes in 2022 to 21.1% in 2023. Consequently, the share of no-injury crashes increased from 71.3% to 77.9% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.2%
-50.0%prior 2
Serious Injury6serious injury crashes1.1%
0.0%prior 6
Minor Injury55minor injury crashes9.8%
-15.4%prior 65
Possible Injury57possible injury crashes10.2%
-26.0%prior 77
No Injury437no injury crashes77.9%
12.6%prior 388

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 ranking of top contributing factors changed year-over-year. In 2023, 'Failed to yield right of way' became the most cited factor, with the count of associated crashes rising by 31.2% from 77 to 101. Crashes involving 'Inattention' also saw a notable increase in count, rising 40.8% from 49 to 69 incidents. Conversely, crashes with 'No improper driving' cited decreased by 12.3% in count, from 106 in 2022 to 93 in 2023, dropping it from the top-ranked factor to the second.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way101 (18%)31.2%prior 77
No improper driving93 (16.6%)-12.3%prior 106
Followed too closely70 (12.5%)14.8%prior 61
Inattention69 (12.3%)40.8%prior 49
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road50 (8.9%)8.7%prior 46
Driving too fast for conditions30 (5.3%)30.4%prior 23
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings20 (3.6%)-28.6%prior 28
Distracted15 (2.7%)7.1%prior 14
Other improper action13 (2.3%)30.0%prior 10
Exceeded authorized speed limit13 (2.3%)18.2%prior 11

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

Crash conditions remained broadly similar year-over-year. The majority of crashes in both 2023 (75.6%) and 2022 (73.3%) occurred on dry road surfaces, with no significant change in the proportion of crashes on adverse surfaces. Similarly, most crashes occurred in daylight in both periods (67.6% in 2023 vs. 68.2% in 2022), with no material shift in the proportion of crashes happening in dark or low-light conditions.

Weather

Clear328 (58.9%)
19.3%prior 275
Clear/Clear59 (10.6%)
-37.9%prior 95
Cloudy51 (9.2%)
21.4%prior 42
Rain35 (6.3%)
16.7%prior 30
Cloudy/Cloudy17 (3.1%)
21.4%prior 14
Cloudy/Rain15 (2.7%)
-21.1%prior 19
Snow15 (2.7%)
66.7%prior 9
Rain/Rain8 (1.4%)
Rain/Cloudy7 (1.3%)
-12.5%prior 8
Clear/Cloudy3 (0.5%)

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

Lighting

Daylight379 (67.6%)
2.2%prior 371
Dark - lighted roadway109 (19.4%)
9.0%prior 100
Dark - roadway not lighted45 (8.0%)
15.4%prior 39
Dusk14 (2.5%)
-17.6%prior 17
Dawn10 (1.8%)
0.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting4 (0.7%)
-20.0%prior 5

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

Road Surface

Dry424 (75.7%)
6.3%prior 399
Wet106 (18.9%)
27.7%prior 83
Snow18 (3.2%)
0.0%prior 18
Ice9 (1.6%)
-65.4%prior 26
Other1 (0.2%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.2%)
Slush1 (0.2%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes saw a shift in 2023. While Toyota, Honda, and Ford remained the top three, Honda's involvement increased by 30.6% (from 121 to 158 vehicles), tying Toyota for the most involved make. Regarding person demographics, individuals in the 16-20 age group saw a 30.7% increase in their involvement in crashes, rising from 153 persons in 2022 to 200 in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,033 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA158 (15.3%)
-19.8%prior 197
2
HONDA158 (15.3%)
30.6%prior 121
3
FORD111 (10.7%)
-3.5%prior 115
4
CHEVROLET89 (8.6%)
6.0%prior 84
5
JEEP53 (5.1%)
51.4%prior 35
6
NISSAN53 (5.1%)
-3.6%prior 55
7
HYUNDAI39 (3.8%)
18.2%prior 33
8
SUBARU38 (3.7%)
35.7%prior 28
9
GMC27 (2.6%)
-6.9%prior 29
10
KIA26 (2.5%)
52.9%prior 17

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

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

Sex Distribution (1,241 persons with recorded sex)

Male740 (59.6%)
4.7%prior 707
Female499 (40.2%)
1.0%prior 494
X / Unspecified2 (0.2%)

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 distribution of crashes across speed zones remained relatively stable, with 30 mph and 35 mph zones accounting for the most crashes in both years. There was a notable increase in crashes within the 55 mph zone, rising from 78 incidents in 2022 to 93 in 2023. In 2022, two fatal crashes occurred in posted speed zones (one at 30 mph and one at 55 mph), while the single fatal crash in 2023 did not have a speed limit recorded in this dataset.

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: BILLERICA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 561
  • Total persons involved: 1,368
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,033

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). "BILLERICA, 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/billerica/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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Billerica, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com