Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

71 CRASHES IN
BRAINTREE, MA
MARCH 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2022

In March 2023, BRAINTREE experienced 71 crashes, marking a 42% increase compared to the 50 crashes reported in March 2022. Total injuries saw a substantial rise of 70.6%, from 17 injuries in the prior period to 29 injuries in the current period. Notably, pedestrian crashes increased from 0 to 3, and cyclist crashes from 0 to 1.

71

42.0%was 50

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

29

70.6%was 17

Persons Injured

3

50.0%was 2

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for March 2023 indicates an upward trend in BRAINTREE compared to March 2022. Total crashes increased by 42%, from 50 to 71, while total injuries rose by 70.6%, from 17 to 29. Fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2023

50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 2 incidents in March 2022 to 3 incidents in March 2023. The hit-and-run rate saw a minor increase from 4% to 4.2% of all crashes year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

27

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1758.8%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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 year-over-year; Thursday became the peak day for crashes in March 2023 with 17 incidents, compared to Tuesday with 10 crashes in March 2022. The peak crash hour also changed from 3 PM with 7 crashes in March 2022 to 4 PM with 10 crashes in March 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both periods reported zero fatalities. While total injuries increased from 17 to 29, the proportion of crashes resulting in minor or possible injuries relative to total crashes slightly decreased from 28% in March 2022 to 25.4% in March 2023. Minor injuries remained constant at 7 incidents, while possible injuries increased from 7 to 11.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury7minor injury crashes9.9%
0.0%prior 7
Possible Injury11possible injury crashes15.5%
57.1%prior 7
No Injury53no injury crashes74.6%
51.4%prior 35

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'Followed too closely,' increased from 14 crashes in March 2022 to 17 crashes in March 2023. 'No improper driving' also saw an increase from 13 to 16 crashes, while 'Inattention' more than doubled from 4 crashes to 9 crashes. Additionally, 'Distracted' driving appeared as a factor in 5 crashes in March 2023, where it was not present in March 2022 data.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely17 (23.9%)21.4%prior 14
No improper driving16 (22.5%)23.1%prior 13
Inattention9 (12.7%)
Failed to yield right of way5 (7%)
Distracted5 (7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (5.6%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (4.2%)
Made an improper turn2 (2.8%)
Other improper action2 (2.8%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 35 in March 2022 to 56 in March 2023, and those on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 42 to 62. Crashes during 'Daylight' hours increased from 33 to 43, indicating a general increase in incidents across common favorable conditions rather than a notable shift towards adverse conditions.

Weather

Clear56 (80.0%)
107.4%prior 27
Cloudy6 (8.6%)
0.0%prior 6
Rain4 (5.7%)
Clear/Clear2 (2.9%)
-75.0%prior 8
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.4%)
Snow1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight43 (60.6%)
30.3%prior 33
Dark - lighted roadway13 (18.3%)
62.5%prior 8
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (8.5%)
Dusk5 (7.0%)
Dawn2 (2.8%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.4%)
Other1 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry62 (87.3%)
47.6%prior 42
Wet9 (12.7%)
50.0%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 97 to 149 year-over-year. The top vehicle make, Toyota, saw an increase from 21 to 29 vehicles, while Jeep vehicles involved in crashes more than tripled, rising from 4 to 13. All reported age groups for persons involved in crashes showed increased counts, with the 16-20 age group increasing from 13 to 28 persons and the 65+ age group increasing from 7 to 20 persons.

Top Vehicle Makes (149 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA29 (19.5%)
38.1%prior 21
2
HONDA16 (10.7%)
14.3%prior 14
3
FORD15 (10.1%)
36.4%prior 11
4
JEEP13 (8.7%)
5
CHEVROLET10 (6.7%)
100.0%prior 5
6
NISSAN9 (6%)
80.0%prior 5
7
MERCEDES-BENZ6 (4%)
8
SUBARU5 (3.4%)
9
GMC5 (3.4%)
10
HYUNDAI4 (2.7%)
-20.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (183 persons with recorded sex)

Male94 (51.4%)
56.7%prior 60
Female89 (48.6%)
111.9%prior 42

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased significantly from 4 in March 2022 to 20 in March 2023, representing the largest shift in speed zone crash distribution. Crashes in 25 mph zones also rose from 3 to 11. Conversely, crashes in 55 mph zones saw a slight decrease from 27 to 25, and 35 mph zones decreased from 8 to 3.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BRAINTREE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 71
  • Total persons involved: 201
  • Total vehicles involved: 149

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). "BRAINTREE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/braintree/march-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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Braintree, MA Crash Report — March 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com