Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

41 CRASHES IN
DEDHAM, MA
MAY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2022

In DEDHAM, total crashes increased from 31 in May 2022 to 41 in May 2023, representing a 32.26% rise. The most notable shift was a 100% decrease in fatalities, dropping from 1 in May 2022 to 0 in May 2023. Injuries saw a slight increase from 12 to 14 over the same period.

41

32.3%was 31

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

14

16.7%was 12

Persons Injured

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in DEDHAM increased by 32.26% year-over-year, rising from 31 in May 2022 to 41 in May 2023. Despite this increase in total incidents, fatalities decreased by 100%, with 0 fatalities reported in May 2023 compared to 1 in May 2022. The number of injuries also saw a slight upward trend, increasing from 12 to 14.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2023

2.4% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

14

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1216.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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 Tuesday in May 2022, which had 8 crashes, to Wednesday in May 2023, also with 8 crashes. The peak hour for crashes moved from 4 p.m. with 5 crashes in May 2022 to 12 p.m. with 7 crashes in May 2023. Notably, crashes on Monday increased from 3 in May 2022 to 8 in May 2023, while Sunday crashes decreased from 6 to 3.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes decreased from 1 in May 2022 to 0 in May 2023. The number of minor injuries decreased from 6 in May 2022 to 5 in May 2023, while possible injuries increased from 1 to 4. Crashes resulting in no injury increased from 20 (64.5% share) in May 2022 to 32 (78% share) in May 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury5minor injury crashes12.2%
-16.7%prior 6
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes9.8%
300.0%prior 1
No Injury32no injury crashes78%
60.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'No improper driving' saw a 100% increase in count, rising from 4 crashes in May 2022 to 8 crashes in May 2023. 'Inattention' also significantly increased by 200%, from 2 crashes in May 2022 to 6 crashes in May 2023. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' decreased by 42.86%, from 7 crashes in May 2022 to 4 crashes in May 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving8 (19.5%)
Inattention6 (14.6%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (9.8%)
Followed too closely4 (9.8%)-42.9%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (7.3%)
Other improper action2 (4.9%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (4.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (4.9%)
Made an improper turn2 (4.9%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (4.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 24 in May 2022 to 34 in May 2023. The number of crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 30 in May 2022 to 34 in May 2023, while crashes on 'Wet' surfaces increased from 1 to 7. Crashes under 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions increased from 8 in May 2022 to 21 in May 2023.

Weather

Clear/Clear21 (51.2%)
162.5%prior 8
Clear10 (24.4%)
-41.2%prior 17
Rain/Rain2 (4.9%)
Clear/Unknown2 (4.9%)
Rain2 (4.9%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (4.9%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.4%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight34 (82.9%)
41.7%prior 24
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (7.3%)
Dark - lighted roadway2 (4.9%)
Dawn1 (2.4%)
Dusk1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry34 (82.9%)
13.3%prior 30
Wet7 (17.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 68 in May 2022 to 74 in May 2023. Ford vehicles involved in crashes decreased significantly from 12 in May 2022 to 4 in May 2023, while Chevrolet vehicles increased from 1 to 6. The 26-34 age group saw an increase in persons involved from 14 in May 2022 to 22 in May 2023, whereas the 45-54 age group decreased from 17 to 11.

Top Vehicle Makes (74 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (17.6%)
-7.1%prior 14
2
HONDA9 (12.2%)
-18.2%prior 11
3
SUBARU6 (8.1%)
4
CHEVROLET6 (8.1%)
5
NISSAN5 (6.8%)
0.0%prior 5
6
FORD4 (5.4%)
-66.7%prior 12
7
JEEP4 (5.4%)
8
KIA3 (4.1%)
9
LEXUS3 (4.1%)
10
HYUNDAI2 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (83 persons with recorded sex)

Female43 (51.8%)
-6.5%prior 46
Male40 (48.2%)
29.0%prior 31

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 45 mph speed limit zones increased from 2 in May 2022 to 5 in May 2023. Crashes in 55 mph speed limit zones also rose from 9 in May 2022 to 11 in May 2023. Conversely, crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 9 in May 2022 to 4 in May 2023. May 2022 recorded 1 fatal crash in a 45 mph zone, while May 2023 had no fatal crashes in any speed zone.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: DEDHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 41
  • Total persons involved: 86
  • Total vehicles involved: 74

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). "DEDHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/dedham/may-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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Dedham, MA Crash Report — May 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com