Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

36 CRASHES IN
BRIDGEWATER, MA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

BRIDGEWATER experienced a 33.33% increase in total crashes, rising from 27 in August 2022 to 36 in August 2023. A notable positive shift was the absence of fatalities in August 2023, compared to one fatality in the prior year. Despite the increase in total crashes, the number of injured persons remained stable year-over-year.

36

33.3%was 27

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

14

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

Fatal Crash Events

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in BRIDGEWATER increased by 33.33% year-over-year, from 27 crashes in August 2022 to 36 crashes in August 2023. While total injuries remained constant at 14 in both periods, fatalities saw a significant decrease, dropping from 1 in August 2022 to 0 in August 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 14-7.1%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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 Tuesday with 6 crashes in August 2022 to Sunday with 8 crashes in August 2023. The peak hour also changed, moving from 12 PM with 5 crashes in August 2022 to 9 AM, which also recorded 5 crashes, in August 2023. This indicates a shift in when crashes are most frequently occurring within the week and day.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes decreased from 1 in August 2022 to 0 in August 2023. Serious injury crashes increased from 2 to 3, and minor injury crashes rose from 3 to 7 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (serious, minor, or possible) increased from 29.6% in August 2022 to 33.3% in August 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury3serious injury crashes8.3%
50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes19.4%
133.3%prior 3
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes5.6%
-33.3%prior 3
No Injury22no injury crashes61.1%
22.2%prior 18

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes where 'No improper driving' was cited increased from 5 to 9, an 80% increase. Crashes attributed to 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' saw a 200% increase, rising from 2 to 6. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased by 25%, from 4 to 3.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (25%)80.0%prior 5
Followed too closely6 (16.7%)0.0%prior 6
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner6 (16.7%)
Failed to yield right of way3 (8.3%)
Inattention2 (5.6%)
Other improper action2 (5.6%)
Made an improper turn1 (2.8%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (2.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (2.8%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 19 in August 2022 to 31 in August 2023. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 24 to 31 year-over-year. The number of crashes occurring in daylight conditions increased from 23 to 28, suggesting a higher proportion of crashes occurred under favorable environmental conditions in the current period.

Weather

Clear31 (86.1%)
63.2%prior 19
Clear/Cloudy2 (5.6%)
Rain2 (5.6%)
Cloudy1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight28 (77.8%)
21.7%prior 23
Dark - lighted roadway6 (16.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.8%)
Dusk1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry31 (86.1%)
29.2%prior 24
Wet4 (11.1%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (63 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA12 (19%)
20.0%prior 10
2
HONDA10 (15.9%)
42.9%prior 7
3
HYUNDAI8 (12.7%)
4
NISSAN5 (7.9%)
5
CHEVROLET5 (7.9%)
6
GMC4 (6.3%)
7
DODGE2 (3.2%)
8
HD2 (3.2%)
9
SUBARU2 (3.2%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (77 persons with recorded sex)

Female42 (54.5%)
20.0%prior 35
Male35 (45.5%)
29.6%prior 27

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 65 mph speed zones saw a 200% increase, rising from 2 in August 2022 to 6 in August 2023. Crashes in 35 mph zones also doubled from 2 to 4, while those in 40 mph zones decreased by 25% from 4 to 3. Notably, the 30 mph speed zone maintained 13 crashes in both periods, though the fatal crash count within this zone decreased from 1 to 0.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BRIDGEWATER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 36
  • Total persons involved: 81
  • Total vehicles involved: 63

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). "BRIDGEWATER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/bridgewater/august-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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Bridgewater, MA Crash Report — August 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com