Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

63 CRASHES IN
CHELMSFORD, MA
JUNE 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstJune 2022

In June 2023, CHELMSFORD experienced 63 total crashes, a 16% decrease compared to the 75 crashes recorded in June 2022. A notable year-over-year shift was the absence of fatalities in June 2023, down from 2 fatalities in the prior year. Total injuries, however, saw a slight increase from 25 to 28.

63

-16.0%was 75

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

28

12.0%was 25

Persons Injured

2

-66.7%was 6

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a decrease in total crashes, falling from 75 in June 2022 to 63 in June 2023, representing a 16% reduction. Total fatalities decreased from 2 to 0, while total injuries increased by 12%, from 25 to 28. This suggests a general decline in crash frequency but a slight rise in injury count.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — June 2023

-66.7% vs prior (6)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased significantly from 6 in June 2022 to 2 in June 2023, representing a 66.7% decrease in count. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate declined from 8% to 3.2%. This indicates a downward trend in hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2-100.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

27

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2412.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · 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 Monday with 15 incidents in June 2022 to Thursday with 14 incidents in June 2023. The peak hour remained 3 PM for both periods, though the number of crashes at this hour decreased from 15 to 11. Crashes on Monday saw a significant decrease from 15 to 3.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities decreased from 2 in June 2022 to 0 in June 2023, eliminating the fatal crash rate of 1.33% observed previously. While serious injuries (code 'A') were present with 2 crashes (2.7%) in the prior period, none were recorded in the current period. Minor injuries (code 'B') remained at 13 crashes, increasing their proportion from 17.3% to 20.6% of total crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury13minor injury crashes20.6%
0.0%prior 13
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes6.3%
33.3%prior 3
No Injury46no injury crashes73%
-17.9%prior 56

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'Followed too closely,' decreased from 23 crashes in June 2022 to 16 crashes in June 2023, a 30.4% decrease in count. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw an 80% increase in count, rising from 5 to 9 crashes, and moved from the fourth to the second most frequent factor. Conversely, 'No improper driving' decreased by 41.7% in count, from 12 to 7 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely16 (25.4%)-30.4%prior 23
Failed to yield right of way9 (14.3%)80.0%prior 5
No improper driving7 (11.1%)-41.7%prior 12
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (11.1%)-30.0%prior 10
Driving too fast for conditions6 (9.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (4.8%)
Distracted2 (3.2%)
Inattention2 (3.2%)
Other improper action2 (3.2%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (3.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' or 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions decreased from 66 (88% share) in June 2022 to 42 (66.7% share) in June 2023. Concurrently, crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces increased significantly from 3 (4% share) to 16 (25.4% share). Incidents occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions also rose from 2 (2.7% share) to 8 (12.7% share) year-over-year.

Weather

Clear/Clear21 (33.3%)
-32.3%prior 31
Clear21 (33.3%)
-40.0%prior 35
Cloudy/Rain7 (11.1%)
Rain5 (7.9%)
Cloudy4 (6.3%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (3.2%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (1.6%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (1.6%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight51 (81.0%)
-21.5%prior 65
Dark - lighted roadway8 (12.7%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (3.2%)
Dawn1 (1.6%)
Dusk1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry47 (74.6%)
-32.9%prior 70
Wet16 (25.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 148 to 121 year-over-year. HONDA vehicles involved in crashes increased from 20 to 29, making it the top make in June 2023. Conversely, TOYOTA decreased from 19 to 14, and NISSAN decreased from 10 to 3.

Top Vehicle Makes (121 vehicles)

1
HONDA29 (24%)
45.0%prior 20
2
TOYOTA14 (11.6%)
-26.3%prior 19
3
FORD11 (9.1%)
-21.4%prior 14
4
BMW6 (5%)
5
SUBARU6 (5%)
6
JEEP5 (4.1%)
7
KIA5 (4.1%)
8
GMC5 (4.1%)
0.0%prior 5
9
CHEVROLET4 (3.3%)
-63.6%prior 11
10
ACURA3 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (143 persons with recorded sex)

Male81 (56.6%)
-13.8%prior 94
Female62 (43.4%)
-19.5%prior 77

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 65 mph speed zone decreased from 22 to 20, with no fatalities recorded in this zone in June 2023 compared to one in June 2022. The 55 mph zone also saw a decrease in crashes from 16 to 9. Conversely, crashes in the 35 mph zone increased from 9 to 11.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30 · 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: 2023-06-01 through 2023-06-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-06-01 through 2023-06-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELMSFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 63
  • Total persons involved: 162
  • Total vehicles involved: 121

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). "CHELMSFORD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: June 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelmsford/june-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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Chelmsford, MA Crash Report — June 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com