ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · BOSTON, MA · JULY 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/boston/july-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
515 CRASHES IN
BOSTON, MA
JULY 2023
In July 2023, Boston experienced 515 crashes, an increase from 483 crashes in July 2022, representing a 6.6% rise. This period also saw a significant 126.9% increase in total injuries, climbing from 104 to 236. Fatalities doubled, rising from 2 in the prior year to 4 in the current period.
515
▲ 6.6%was 483
Total Crash Events
4
▲ 100.0%was 2
Persons Killed
236
▲ 126.9%was 104
Persons Injured
75
▲ 17.2%was 64
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (4) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (4) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 32 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall crash trends in Boston show an upward trajectory year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 6.6% from 483 to 515. This period also saw a substantial rise in severe outcomes, with fatalities doubling from 2 to 4 and injuries increasing by 126.9% from 104 to 236.
75
Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2023
▲ 17.2% vs prior (64)
Hit-and-run crashes increased from 64 in July 2022 to 75 in July 2023. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate rose from 13.3% of all crashes to 14.6% year-over-year. This indicates an upward trend in hit-and-run incidents.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
1
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
3
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
12
Pedestrians Injured
14
Cyclists Injured
208
Motorists Injured
2
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for crashes remained Saturday in both periods, with 92 crashes in July 2023 and 90 in July 2022. However, the peak hour shifted from 4 PM with 29 crashes in July 2022 to 3 PM with 39 crashes in July 2023. Crashes on Monday also saw a notable increase from 64 to 89.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The fatal crash rate increased from 0.41% in July 2022 to 0.78% in July 2023. The proportion of serious injury crashes (code 'A') rose from 0.4% to 2.3%, and minor injury crashes (code 'B') increased from 9.1% to 24.5% of all crashes. This indicates a notable shift towards more severe crash outcomes year-over-year.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
"No improper driving" became the most frequent contributing factor, increasing by 91.5% from 47 to 90 crashes. "Followed too closely" decreased slightly by 3.2%, from 63 to 61 crashes, shifting from the top factor to second. Notably, "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" saw a substantial 228.6% increase, rising from 7 to 23 crashes, moving it into the top five factors.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
The number of crashes occurring in clear weather decreased from 414 to 344 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes in rainy conditions saw a significant increase, rising from 10 to 66. Similarly, crashes on wet road surfaces dramatically increased from 11 to 89, indicating a shift towards more crashes in adverse weather and road conditions.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The ranking of top vehicle makes shifted, with Toyota becoming the most frequently involved make (175 crashes) in July 2023, surpassing Honda (145 crashes). All age groups saw an increase in the number of persons involved in crashes, with the 26-34 age group experiencing the largest absolute rise of 81 persons. Overall, the total number of vehicles involved remained stable at 974 in July 2023 compared to 972 in July 2022.
Top Vehicle Makes (974 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Vehicle unit records
182 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (1,016 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 156 to 182, though the fatal crash rate in this zone slightly decreased from 1.282% to 1.099%. The 30 mph zone saw a decrease in crashes from 42 to 37, but experienced an increase in fatal crashes from 0 to 1, resulting in a fatal rate of 2.703%. Similarly, crashes in the 55 mph zone decreased from 74 to 55, but also saw an increase in fatal crashes from 0 to 1, leading to a fatal rate of 1.818%.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 2 of 182 (1.099%) · 30 mph: 1 of 37 (2.703%) · 55 mph: 1 of 55 (1.818%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · 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: 2023-07-01 through 2023-07-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-07-01 through 2023-07-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: BOSTON, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 515
- Total persons involved: 1,234
- Total vehicles involved: 974
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). "BOSTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/boston/july-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: 2023-07-01 – 2023-07-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved