ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · CAMBRIDGE, MA · 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/cambridge/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
1,684 CRASHES IN
CAMBRIDGE, MA
2023
In 2023, Cambridge recorded 1,684 total traffic crashes, an 11.2% increase from the 1,514 crashes reported in 2022. Total injuries also rose by 14.4% from 409 to 468. One of the most significant year-over-year shifts was a 52.2% increase in crashes involving bicycles, which rose from 90 in 2022 to 137 in 2023.
1,684
▲ 11.2%was 1,514
Total Crash Events
1
▼ -50.0%was 2
Persons Killed
468
▲ 14.4%was 409
Persons Injured
561
▲ 13.8%was 493
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. 333 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 crash trends in Cambridge show an increase year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 11.2%, from 1,514 in 2022 to 1,684 in 2023. Similarly, the number of people injured in these incidents increased by 14.4% over the same period, from 409 to 468.
561
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▲ 13.8% vs prior (493)
Hit-and-run incidents increased from 2022 to 2023. The total number of hit-and-run crashes rose by 13.8%, from 493 to 561. The hit-and-run rate, which measures the proportion of total crashes that are hit-and-runs, also ticked up slightly from 32.6% in 2022 to 33.3% in 2023, indicating that roughly one in three crashes involved a party leaving the scene.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
66
Pedestrians Injured
107
Cyclists Injured
247
Motorists Injured
48
Other Injured
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 showed some shifts between 2022 and 2023. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday (274 crashes) in 2022 to Thursday (293 crashes) in 2023. The peak hour also shifted earlier, from 5 p.m. in 2022 (126 crashes) to 2 p.m. in 2023 (132 crashes), indicating a change in the busiest time of day for collisions.
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
While total crashes increased, the number of fatal crashes decreased from 2 in 2022 to 1 in 2023, with the fatal crash rate dropping from 0.13 to 0.06 per 100 crashes. The count of serious injury crashes also declined from 23 to 18. However, crashes resulting in minor injuries increased from 250 to 284, and no-injury crashes rose from 837 to 953, making up a slightly larger share of total incidents at 56.6% in 2023 versus 55.3% in 2022.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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 leading contributing factors remained consistent, though their counts shifted. 'No improper driving' was the most cited factor in both years, with its count increasing by 18.9% from 334 incidents in 2022 to 397 in 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a significant 54.7% rise in count, from 64 to 99. Conversely, the count for 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' decreased by 27%, from 63 incidents in 2022 to 46 in 2023.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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
Crashes in both periods predominantly occurred in favorable conditions. In 2023, 66.4% of crashes happened during daylight hours, up from a 60.3% share in 2022. Similarly, the share of crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 67.2% in 2022 to 72.4% in 2023. The proportion of crashes under clear weather conditions also saw an increase, rising from a 63.0% share in 2022 to 66.0% in 2023.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
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 remained consistent, with Toyota (550 vehicles) and Honda (425 vehicles) leading in 2023. While the top rankings were stable, the number of Hondas involved in crashes increased by 27.6% from the prior year. An analysis of persons involved shows a notable increase in the 35-44 age group, which grew from 399 individuals in 2022 to 549 in 2023. The 26-34 age group remained the largest demographic involved in both years.
Top Vehicle Makes (2,832 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
1,073 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (2,687 persons with recorded sex)
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
Crashes in Cambridge remained heavily concentrated in lower speed zones in both years. The 25 mph zone saw the most crashes, increasing from 1,016 in 2022 to 1,199 in 2023. The single fatal crash in 2023 occurred in a 20 mph zone, whereas the two fatal crashes in 2022 both occurred in 30 mph zones. There was no significant shift in the overall distribution of crashes across different speed zones year-over-year.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 253 (0.395%)
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: CAMBRIDGE, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 1,684
- Total persons involved: 3,764
- Total vehicles involved: 2,832
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). "CAMBRIDGE, 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/cambridge/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
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved