Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

36 CRASHES IN
FAIRHAVEN, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

FAIRHAVEN experienced a 29.4% decrease in total crashes, from 51 in October 2022 to 36 in October 2023. While overall crashes decreased, DUI-related crashes saw a notable increase of 200%, rising from 1 crash in October 2022 to 3 crashes in October 2023. Additionally, there was one pedestrian crash reported in October 2023, compared to none in the prior year.

36

-29.4%was 51

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

-33.3%was 15

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 2

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 · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, FAIRHAVEN saw a downward trend in crash activity year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 29.4%, from 51 in October 2022 to 36 in October 2023. Concurrently, the total number of injuries also decreased by 33.3%, falling from 15 to 10 over the same period, while fatalities remained at zero.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

9

Motorists Injured

Prior: 15-40.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The distribution of crashes across the week shifted, with October 2023 showing peak crash counts on Thursday and Saturday, each with 7 crashes, compared to October 2022 which had four peak days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) each with 9 crashes. Peak crash times also shifted, with October 2023 experiencing the highest number of crashes at 1 PM and 2 PM (6 crashes each), whereas October 2022's peak was at 12 PM with 6 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both October 2022 and October 2023. The total number of injuries decreased from 15 in October 2022 to 10 in October 2023. While serious injuries remained constant at 1 in both periods, possible injuries saw a decrease from 4 in October 2022 to 1 in October 2023, and minor injuries remained at 6 in both periods.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.8%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes16.7%
0.0%prior 6
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes2.8%
-75.0%prior 4
No Injury26no injury crashes72.2%
-25.7%prior 35

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Inattention remained a significant contributing factor, increasing from 8 crashes in October 2022 to 12 crashes in October 2023, a 50% increase in count. Conversely, crashes where 'No improper driving' was cited decreased by 1, from 9 to 8 crashes. Factors such as 'Failed to yield right of way' and 'Distracted' saw increases, with 'Failed to yield right of way' rising from 1 to 2 crashes and 'Distracted' rising from 0 to 2 crashes. 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' and 'Followed too closely' both decreased by 1 crash each.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention12 (33.3%)50.0%prior 8
No improper driving8 (22.2%)-11.1%prior 9
Failed to yield right of way2 (5.6%)
Other improper action2 (5.6%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (5.6%)
Distracted2 (5.6%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.8%)
Followed too closely1 (2.8%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring on wet road surfaces decreased from 11 in October 2022 to 6 in October 2023. Crashes in clear weather conditions also saw a decrease, from 35 to 29. Similarly, crashes during daylight hours decreased from 35 to 28, and crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 8 to 6.

Weather

Clear29 (80.6%)
-17.1%prior 35
Cloudy/Rain3 (8.3%)
Rain3 (8.3%)
-50.0%prior 6
Cloudy1 (2.8%)
-80.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight28 (77.8%)
-20.0%prior 35
Dark - lighted roadway6 (16.7%)
-25.0%prior 8
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry30 (83.3%)
-21.1%prior 38
Wet6 (16.7%)
-45.5%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes decreased from 114 in October 2022 to 78 in October 2023. Significant reductions were observed in the 65+ age group, which decreased from 23 to 12 persons, and the 16-20 age group, which fell from 10 to 4 persons. Among vehicle makes, Toyota crashes decreased from 16 to 5, and Honda crashes decreased from 11 to 4, while Hyundai crashes increased from 4 to 6.

Top Vehicle Makes (69 vehicles)

1
FORD7 (10.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
2
CHEVROLET6 (8.7%)
-14.3%prior 7
3
HYUNDAI6 (8.7%)
4
TOYOTA5 (7.2%)
-68.8%prior 16
5
HONDA4 (5.8%)
-63.6%prior 11
6
JEEP4 (5.8%)
7
MAZDA4 (5.8%)
8
SUBARU4 (5.8%)
9
KIA4 (5.8%)
10
BMW3 (4.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (70 persons with recorded sex)

Male38 (54.3%)
-26.9%prior 52
Female32 (45.7%)
-34.7%prior 49

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 25 MPH speed zones increased from 16 in October 2022 to 19 in October 2023, an 18.8% rise. Conversely, crashes in 35 MPH zones saw a substantial decrease, from 19 to 8, a 57.9% reduction. Notably, there were no crashes reported in 65 MPH zones in October 2023, compared to 7 crashes in the prior year, and no fatalities were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: FAIRHAVEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 36
  • Total persons involved: 78
  • Total vehicles involved: 69

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: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/fairhaven/october-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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Fairhaven, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com