ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · BOSTON, MA · MAY 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/may-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
528 CRASHES IN
BOSTON, MA
MAY 2023
Total crashes in Boston for May 2023 were 528, a slight decrease of 1.7% from the 537 crashes reported in May 2022. However, total injuries increased by 77.7%, rising from 103 to 183. Fatalities decreased significantly, from 4 in May 2022 to 1 in May 2023, representing a 75% reduction.
528
▼ -1.7%was 537
Total Crash Events
1
▼ -75.0%was 4
Persons Killed
183
▲ 77.7%was 103
Persons Injured
70
▲ 25.0%was 56
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. 28 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, the total number of crashes remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a minor decrease of 1.7%. Despite this, there was a substantial increase in total injuries, rising by 77.7% from 103 to 183. Conversely, total fatalities saw a significant decrease of 75%, falling from 4 to 1.
70
Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2023
▲ 25.0% vs prior (56)
Hit-and-run crashes increased by 14 incidents, rising from 56 in May 2022 to 70 in May 2023. The hit-and-run rate also increased by 2.9 percentage points, moving from 10.4% to 13.3% of all crashes. This indicates an upward trend in hit-and-run incidents year-over-year.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
11
Pedestrians Injured
9
Cyclists Injured
163
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for crashes shifted from Saturday in May 2022 (89 crashes) to Monday in May 2023 (94 crashes). The peak hour for crashes remained 6 PM in both periods, though the count decreased from 38 crashes in May 2022 to 35 crashes in May 2023. Crashes on Tuesdays and Thursdays remained consistent at 76 crashes each in May 2023, while Wednesday saw 75 crashes.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The fatal crash rate decreased from 0.74% in May 2022 to 0.19% in May 2023. Crashes resulting in a serious injury (Severity A) increased from 2 (0.4% share) to 15 (2.8% share). Minor injury crashes (Severity B) also saw a notable increase, from 46 (8.6% share) to 91 (17.2% share).
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Among contributing factors, 'No improper driving' increased by 43 incidents (87.8% change in count), moving from 49 to 92. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a significant increase of 31 incidents (114.8% change in count), rising from 27 to 58. 'Followed too closely' remained constant at 87 incidents in both periods, while 'Inattention' increased by 13 incidents (86.7% change in count), from 15 to 28.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight conditions increased from 57.2% in May 2022 to 63.3% in May 2023. Crashes in clear weather decreased slightly from 415 to 403, while those on dry road surfaces also saw a minor reduction from 445 to 427. The number of crashes occurring in dark conditions with lighted roadways decreased from 168 to 145.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of persons involved in crashes increased from 1224 to 1290 year-over-year. All reported age groups saw an increase in involved persons, with the '0-15' age group experiencing the largest percentage increase of 160%, rising from 20 to 52 individuals. Toyota and Honda remained the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes, despite a decrease in their respective counts.
Top Vehicle Makes (1,054 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Vehicle unit records
211 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 · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The fatal crash in May 2023 occurred in a 35 MPH speed zone, which had 46 crashes in total, compared to May 2022 where 4 fatalities occurred in the 25 MPH zone out of 190 crashes. The number of crashes in 45 MPH zones increased from 62 to 67. The 25 MPH speed zone continued to have the highest number of crashes in both periods, with 190 in May 2022 and 189 in May 2023.
Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 46 (2.174%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: BOSTON, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 528
- Total persons involved: 1,290
- Total vehicles involved: 1,054
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: May 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/boston/may-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: 2023-05-01 – 2023-05-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved