Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

5 CRASHES IN
CHATHAM, MA
MARCH 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2022

In March 2023, Chatham experienced 5 crashes, an increase of 25% compared to the 4 crashes reported in March 2022. Total injuries rose by 50%, from 2 in the prior period to 3 in the current period. There were no fatalities in either period, maintaining a stable trend for fatal crashes.

5

25.0%was 4

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

50.0%was 2

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

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

The overall trend indicates an increase in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 25% from 4 to 5. Similarly, the number of injured persons increased by 50%, from 2 in March 2022 to 3 in March 2023. No fatal crashes were recorded in either period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 250.0%

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 peak day for crashes shifted from Wednesday with 3 crashes in March 2022 to Thursday with 2 crashes in March 2023. The peak hour also changed, moving from 8 PM with 1 crash in the prior period to 3 PM with 2 crashes in the current period. Crashes on Wednesday decreased from 3 to 1, while Thursday crashes increased from 0 to 2.

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

There were no fatal crashes in either March 2022 or March 2023. The total number of injured persons increased by 50%, from 2 in the prior period to 3 in the current period. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injury decreased from 50% (2 of 4 crashes) in the prior period to 40% (2 of 5 crashes) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes40%
0.0%prior 2
No Injury2no injury crashes40%
0.0%prior 2

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 factor 'Inattention' remained constant, contributing to 1 crash in both March 2022 and March 2023. Factors such as 'Failed to yield right of way,' 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road,' and 'Other improper action' each contributed to 1 crash in the current period but were not present in the prior period. Conversely, 'Followed too closely,' 'Glare,' and 'Visibility obstructed' each contributed to 1 crash in the prior period but were not present in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way1 (20%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (20%)
Inattention1 (20%)
Other improper action1 (20%)

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 remained constant at 3 in both periods. Crashes under 'Cloudy' conditions decreased from 1 in the prior period to 0 in the current period, while 'Clear/Cloudy' conditions accounted for 1 crash in the current period. Crashes during 'Daylight' increased from 2 in March 2022 to 4 in March 2023, whereas 'Dusk' crashes decreased from 1 to 0. Road surface condition data was not available for comparison in either period.

Weather

Clear3 (60.0%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (20.0%)
Unknown/Other1 (20.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight4 (80.0%)
Dark - lighted roadway1 (20.0%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (10 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA3 (30%)
2
JEEP2 (20%)
3
CHRYSLER1 (10%)
4
AUDI1 (10%)
5
KIA1 (10%)
6
FORD1 (10%)
7
BMW1 (10%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (9 persons with recorded sex)

Female7 (77.8%)
75.0%prior 4
Male2 (22.2%)
-60.0%prior 5

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 the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 2 in March 2022 to 1 in March 2023. Conversely, crashes in the 35 mph zone increased from 1 to 2 between the prior and current periods. A new speed zone of 25 mph was recorded with 1 crash in the current period, which was not present in the prior period. No fatal crashes were reported across any speed zone in either period.

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: CHATHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 5
  • Total persons involved: 11
  • Total vehicles involved: 10

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). "CHATHAM, 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/chatham/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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Chatham, MA Crash Report — March 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com