Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

42 CRASHES IN
CARLISLE, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Carlisle recorded 42 vehicle crashes, a 20.8% decrease from the 53 crashes reported in 2022. While overall crashes declined, the most significant year-over-year change was the 73.3% reduction in total injuries, which fell from 15 in the prior year to 4 in the current year. There were no fatalities reported in either period.

42

-20.8%was 53

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

4

-73.3%was 15

Persons Injured

0

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.

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 safety metrics in Carlisle showed a positive trend from 2022 to 2023. The total number of crashes decreased by 20.8%, from 53 to 42. Concurrently, the number of people injured in these incidents fell by 73.3%, from 15 to 4, while fatalities remained at zero for both years.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

2

Motorists Injured

Prior: 13-84.6%

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 timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes moved to Thursday with 9 incidents, compared to Friday (14 crashes) in 2022. The peak hour for collisions also shifted later, from 3 p.m. in 2022 (6 crashes) to 6 p.m. in 2023 (8 crashes).

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

There were no fatal crashes recorded in either 2022 or 2023. The overall severity of crashes diminished, with the proportion of incidents involving any injury dropping from 22.6% (12 of 53 crashes) in 2022 to 7.1% (3 of 42 crashes) in 2023. The prior year included one serious injury crash, a severity level not observed in 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes7.1%
-50.0%prior 6
No Injury39no injury crashes92.9%
-4.9%prior 41

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

While 'No improper driving' was a leading factor in both years, its count increased from 10 crashes in 2022 to 16 in 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a substantial decrease, falling from 9 incidents in 2022 to just 2 in 2023. Conversely, crashes involving 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased from 6 to 8 incidents year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving16 (38.1%)60.0%prior 10
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road8 (19%)33.3%prior 6
Failed to yield right of way3 (7.1%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway3 (7.1%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (4.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (4.8%)
Inattention2 (4.8%)-77.8%prior 9
Followed too closely1 (2.4%)
Glare1 (2.4%)
Distracted1 (2.4%)

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

In both years, most crashes occurred in clear weather and daylight. However, the proportion of crashes happening in non-daylight conditions (dark or dusk) increased from 34.0% of all crashes in 2022 to 40.5% in 2023. In contrast, crashes on adverse road surfaces like wet or snow represented a smaller share of the total in 2023 (28.6%) compared to 2022 (37.7%).

Weather

Clear29 (69.0%)
-25.6%prior 39
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (7.1%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (4.8%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (2.4%)
Rain1 (2.4%)
Rain/Clear1 (2.4%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (2.4%)
Snow1 (2.4%)
Snow/Rain1 (2.4%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight24 (57.1%)
-31.4%prior 35
Dark - roadway not lighted12 (28.6%)
20.0%prior 10
Dark - lighted roadway3 (7.1%)
-40.0%prior 5
Dusk2 (4.8%)
Other1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry30 (71.4%)
-9.1%prior 33
Wet6 (14.3%)
-25.0%prior 8
Snow5 (11.9%)
-37.5%prior 8
Ice1 (2.4%)

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 four vehicle makes involved in crashes—Toyota, Chevrolet, Honda, and Ford—remained the same across both years. A notable demographic shift occurred among persons involved; the 65+ age group became the largest cohort in 2023 with 17 individuals, up from 16 in 2022, despite a 27.3% decrease in the total number of people involved in crashes. Meanwhile, the number of individuals aged 35-44 involved in crashes fell from 20 to 12.

Top Vehicle Makes (57 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (22.8%)
-13.3%prior 15
2
CHEVROLET7 (12.3%)
16.7%prior 6
3
HONDA6 (10.5%)
-45.5%prior 11
4
FORD6 (10.5%)
-25.0%prior 8
5
SUBARU4 (7%)
6
TESL3 (5.3%)
7
BMW3 (5.3%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.5%)
9
AUDI2 (3.5%)
10
NISSAN2 (3.5%)
-60.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (71 persons with recorded sex)

Male38 (53.5%)
-32.1%prior 56
Female33 (46.5%)
-15.4%prior 39

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

The distribution of crashes across speed zones was largely consistent, with 25 mph zones being the most frequent location for crashes in both 2022 (17 crashes) and 2023 (18 crashes). Notably, the 5 crashes that occurred in 40 mph zones in 2022 were not repeated in 2023, and incidents in 30 mph zones decreased from 11 to 8. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

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: CARLISLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 42
  • Total persons involved: 72
  • Total vehicles involved: 57

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). "CARLISLE, 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/carlisle/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

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Carlisle, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com