Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

538 CRASHES IN
FAIRHAVEN, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Fairhaven recorded 538 total traffic crashes, a 4.1% decrease from the 561 crashes reported in 2022. While overall collisions declined, the most significant year-over-year shift was the increase in traffic fatalities, which rose from zero in 2022 to three in 2023.

538

-4.1%was 561

Total Crash Events

3

Persons Killed

127

-1.6%was 129

Persons Injured

38

52.0%was 25

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (3) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 73 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

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

While total crashes in Fairhaven saw a modest decrease of 4.1% from 561 in 2022 to 538 in 2023, the severity of these incidents worsened. The number of total injuries remained stable, decreasing slightly from 129 to 127, but traffic fatalities increased from zero to three during the same period.

38

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

52.0% vs prior (25)

Hit-and-run incidents increased notably between the two periods. The number of hit-and-run crashes grew from 25 in 2022 to 38 in 2023, a 52% increase in count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all crashes also rose, from 4.5% in 2022 to 7.1% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

5

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 425.0%

119

Motorists Injured

Prior: 125-4.8%

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 temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year. The day with the most crashes moved from Friday (100 incidents) in 2022 to Thursday (88 incidents) in 2023. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions shifted later in the day, from 12 PM in 2022 (53 crashes) to 2 PM in 2023 (59 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

Crash severity increased significantly in 2023, with fatal crashes rising from zero in 2022 to three. This resulted in a fatal crash rate of 0.6% for the year. The number of serious injury crashes decreased from 9 to 6, but minor injury crashes increased from 49 to 61. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury remained stable at approximately 69% for both years.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal3fatal crashes0.6%
Serious Injury6serious injury crashes1.1%
-33.3%prior 9
Minor Injury61minor injury crashes11.3%
24.5%prior 49
Possible Injury24possible injury crashes4.5%
-31.4%prior 35
No Injury371no injury crashes69%
-4.6%prior 389

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

The leading contributing factors remained consistent, with "No improper driving" and "Inattention" being the top two cited causes in both years. However, the count of crashes attributed to "Inattention" decreased from 104 in 2022 to 85 in 2023. Conversely, incidents involving "Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road" doubled in count, rising from 13 to 26, and crashes related to exceeding the speed limit increased from 2 to 6.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving124 (23%)13.8%prior 109
Inattention85 (15.8%)-18.3%prior 104
Other improper action35 (6.5%)2.9%prior 34
Failed to yield right of way31 (5.8%)10.7%prior 28
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road26 (4.8%)100.0%prior 13
Distracted17 (3.2%)21.4%prior 14
Followed too closely16 (3%)-27.3%prior 22
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner14 (2.6%)-33.3%prior 21
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway10 (1.9%)42.9%prior 7
Visibility obstructed9 (1.7%)80.0%prior 5

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

The vast majority of crashes in both periods occurred in clear weather on dry roads during daylight hours. In 2023, the proportion of crashes under these ideal conditions was slightly higher than in 2022. For instance, 75.6% of crashes occurred in daylight in 2023, compared to 70.4% in 2022. Similarly, crashes on dry roads accounted for 84.6% of the total in 2023, up from 80.4% in the prior year.

Weather

Clear423 (79.7%)
0.7%prior 420
Cloudy37 (7.0%)
-11.9%prior 42
Rain31 (5.8%)
14.8%prior 27
Cloudy/Rain17 (3.2%)
6.3%prior 16
Snow6 (1.1%)
-25.0%prior 8
Clear/Cloudy5 (0.9%)
-54.5%prior 11
Rain/Cloudy2 (0.4%)
-66.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.2%)
Cloudy/Snow1 (0.2%)
Clear/Other1 (0.2%)

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

Lighting

Daylight407 (76.6%)
3.0%prior 395
Dark - lighted roadway80 (15.1%)
-9.1%prior 88
Dark - roadway not lighted20 (3.8%)
-37.5%prior 32
Dusk13 (2.4%)
-7.1%prior 14
Dark - unknown roadway lighting6 (1.1%)
-45.5%prior 11
Dawn5 (0.9%)
-16.7%prior 6

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

Road Surface

Dry455 (85.4%)
0.9%prior 451
Wet70 (13.1%)
-4.1%prior 73
Snow5 (0.9%)
-61.5%prior 13
Ice2 (0.4%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.2%)

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 three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained Toyota, Ford, and Honda in both 2022 and 2023, though the count for each decreased in the current period. The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 1,051 to 989. When examining the age distribution of all persons involved, the 65+ age group represented 16.4% of individuals in 2023, a slight increase in share from 15.7% in 2022.

Top Vehicle Makes (989 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA148 (15%)
-12.9%prior 170
2
FORD112 (11.3%)
-4.3%prior 117
3
HONDA100 (10.1%)
-7.4%prior 108
4
NISSAN65 (6.6%)
14.0%prior 57
5
CHEVROLET63 (6.4%)
-17.1%prior 76
6
KIA52 (5.3%)
40.5%prior 37
7
JEEP46 (4.7%)
-14.8%prior 54
8
HYUNDAI39 (3.9%)
5.4%prior 37
9
SUBARU37 (3.7%)
12.1%prior 33
10
GMC34 (3.4%)
6.3%prior 32

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

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

Sex Distribution (1,021 persons with recorded sex)

Male537 (52.6%)
-5.3%prior 567
Female481 (47.1%)
-7.1%prior 518
X / Unspecified3 (0.3%)

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

Crashes in 25 mph zones were the most common in both years, though the count decreased from 253 in 2022 to 214 in 2023. Despite this decrease, all three fatal crashes recorded in 2023 occurred within these 25 mph zones, whereas no fatalities were recorded in any speed zone in the prior year. The number of crashes in 35 mph zones remained relatively stable, with 149 incidents in 2022 and 146 in 2023.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 3 of 214 (1.402%)

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: FAIRHAVEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 538
  • Total persons involved: 1,200
  • Total vehicles involved: 989

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). "FAIRHAVEN, 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/fairhaven/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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Fairhaven, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com