ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · CAMBRIDGE, 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.
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GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/cambridge/july-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
152 CRASHES IN
CAMBRIDGE, MA
JULY 2023
In July 2023, the city of Cambridge experienced a total of 152 crashes, marking a substantial 40.74% increase compared to the 108 crashes recorded in July 2022. This notable rise in overall crash incidents is the most significant year-over-year shift in the data. There were no fatalities in either period.
152
▲ 40.7%was 108
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
41
▲ 13.9%was 36
Persons Injured
46
▲ 31.4%was 35
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. 26 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
The overall trend indicates a significant rise in crashes year-over-year in Cambridge. Total crashes increased from 108 in July 2022 to 152 in July 2023, representing an increase of 44 crashes or a 40.74% upward trend.
46
Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2023
▲ 31.4% vs prior (35)
The count of hit-and-run crashes increased from 35 in July 2022 to 46 in July 2023. However, the overall hit-and-run rate decreased slightly from 32.4% to 30.3% of all crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
0
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
6
Pedestrians Injured
8
Cyclists Injured
25
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 shifted from Friday with 27 incidents in July 2022 to Monday with 31 incidents in July 2023. Similarly, the peak crash hour moved from 5 PM with 11 incidents in the prior period to 3 PM with 15 incidents in the current period. These changes suggest a shift in the busiest times for crash occurrences.
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
Fatalities remained at zero in both July 2022 and July 2023. Total injuries increased from 36 to 41, with serious injuries (Severity A) doubling from 1 to 2. While minor injuries (Severity B) increased in count from 24 to 27, their proportion of total crashes decreased from 22.2% to 17.8%, indicating a higher proportion of no-injury crashes in the current period.
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
The top contributing factor, "No improper driving," increased in count from 21 to 35 crashes, a 66.7% rise. "Failed to yield right of way" saw a slight decrease from 12 to 11 crashes, an 8.3% reduction. Notably, "Inattention" crashes increased significantly from 2 to 9, a 350% increase in count, making it the third most common factor in July 2023, while "Followed too closely" dropped from the top three with a 60% decrease in count from 10 to 4.
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
Crashes occurring in "Clear" weather conditions increased from 69 in July 2022 to 99 in July 2023. Crashes on "Wet" road surfaces also increased, rising from 3 to 10 incidents year-over-year, and their proportion of total crashes increased from 2.8% to 6.6%. The number of crashes during "Daylight" conditions increased from 79 to 117.
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 total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 183 to 251. Toyota remained the top make involved, increasing from 38 to 55 vehicles, followed by Honda (24 to 43) and Ford (18 to 22). Across age groups, persons aged 26-34 continued to be the most represented, increasing from 46 to 69, while the 55-64 age group saw a slight decrease in representation from 25 to 23.
Top Vehicle Makes (251 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Vehicle unit records
100 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (256 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
The number of crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 79 to 112, maintaining its position as the zone with the most crashes. Crashes in 20 mph zones also rose from 10 to 25. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 9 to 5. There were no fatalities recorded across any speed zone in either period.
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: CAMBRIDGE, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 152
- Total persons involved: 359
- Total vehicles involved: 251
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: 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/cambridge/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