Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

44 CRASHES IN
DARTMOUTH, MA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

In August 2023, DARTMOUTH experienced 44 crashes, an increase from the 29 crashes reported in August 2022. This represents a 51.7% year-over-year increase in total crashes. A notable shift is the increase in hit-and-run crashes, which rose from 1 in the prior year to 5 in the current period.

44

51.7%was 29

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

22

57.1%was 14

Persons Injured

5

400.0%was 1

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in DARTMOUTH are trending upwards, with total crashes increasing by 51.7% from 29 in August 2022 to 44 in August 2023. The number of injuries also increased by 57.1%, rising from 14 to 22 year-over-year.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023

400.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly from 1 incident in August 2022 to 5 incidents in August 2023. This resulted in the hit-and-run rate rising from 3.4% of total crashes in the prior period to 11.4% in the current period, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

21

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1361.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

In August 2023, the peak day for crashes shifted to Wednesday with 9 incidents, compared to Monday with 7 incidents in August 2022. The peak crash hour remained 4 p.m. in both periods, though the number of crashes at this hour decreased from 6 to 5.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities in either August 2023 or August 2022. Total injuries increased by 57.1%, rising from 14 in August 2022 to 22 in August 2023. In August 2022, there was 1 serious injury reported, a category not present in August 2023. The proportion of crashes resulting in Minor Injury decreased from 31% to 25%, while crashes with No Injury increased slightly from 62.1% to 63.6%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury11minor injury crashes25%
22.2%prior 9
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes6.8%
No Injury28no injury crashes63.6%
55.6%prior 18

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes where 'Inattention' was a factor increased from 5 incidents in August 2022 to 12 in August 2023, becoming the leading contributing factor. Crashes due to 'Failed to yield right of way' also saw a notable increase from 2 to 9 incidents. Conversely, 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' incidents decreased from 4 to 3.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention12 (27.3%)140.0%prior 5
Failed to yield right of way9 (20.5%)
No improper driving6 (13.6%)
Followed too closely5 (11.4%)0.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (6.8%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (4.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (2.3%)
Distracted1 (2.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.3%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 23 in August 2022 to 31 in August 2023. Crashes in rainy conditions were reported in August 2023 with 5 incidents, while none were specifically noted as 'Rain' in August 2022. Data for road surface conditions was not available for the prior period, preventing a comparison.

Weather

Clear31 (72.1%)
34.8%prior 23
Rain5 (11.6%)
Cloudy4 (9.3%)
-20.0%prior 5
Cloudy/Rain2 (4.7%)
Clear/Other1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight32 (72.7%)
14.3%prior 28
Dark - lighted roadway10 (22.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry35 (81.4%)
Wet8 (18.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (80 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA14 (17.5%)
75.0%prior 8
2
FORD11 (13.8%)
83.3%prior 6
3
HONDA9 (11.3%)
4
NISSAN6 (7.5%)
20.0%prior 5
5
CHEVROLET5 (6.3%)
6
JEEP4 (5%)
7
SUBARU3 (3.8%)
8
KIA2 (2.5%)
9
GMC2 (2.5%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN2 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (99 persons with recorded sex)

Male54 (54.5%)
125.0%prior 24
Female45 (45.5%)
25.0%prior 36

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 40 mph zones increased from 6 in August 2022 to 17 in August 2023. Incidents in 65 mph zones also rose from 1 to 7 year-over-year. Crashes in 30 mph zones remained stable at 9 incidents in both periods, while crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 9 to 6.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: DARTMOUTH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 44
  • Total persons involved: 110
  • Total vehicles involved: 80

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). "DARTMOUTH, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/dartmouth/august-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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Dartmouth, MA Crash Report — August 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com