Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

456 CRASHES IN
HANOVER, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Hanover recorded 456 total traffic crashes, a 28.8% increase from the 354 crashes reported in 2022. While total injuries rose from 124 to 138, one of the most notable changes was a sharp increase in rear-end collisions, which grew from 74 to 138 incidents year-over-year.

456

28.8%was 354

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

138

11.3%was 124

Persons Injured

18

63.6%was 11

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Traffic crashes in Hanover showed a notable upward trend from 2022 to 2023, with total incidents increasing by 28.8% from 354 to 456. The number of people injured also rose by 11.3% from 124 to 138, while the number of fatalities remained stable at one death in each period.

18

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

63.6% vs prior (11)

The number of hit-and-run incidents increased from 11 in 2022 to 18 in 2023, a 63.6% rise in count. The hit-and-run rate, representing the proportion of all crashes that were hit-and-runs, also trended upward, increasing from 3.1% to 3.9% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 20.0%

136

Motorists Injured

Prior: 11914.3%

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 between the two years. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Monday with 75 incidents, a change from 2022 when Tuesday was the peak day with 62 crashes. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions moved from the 4 PM hour in 2022 (35 crashes) to the 12 PM hour in 2023 (42 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

The number of fatal crashes remained constant at one in both 2022 and 2023, though the fatal crash rate as a percentage of all crashes decreased from 0.28% to 0.22%. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury was similar, at 24.6% in 2022 and 23.7% in 2023. Crashes resulting in minor injuries increased from 30 to 44, while those with serious injuries decreased from 6 to 5.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.2%
0.0%prior 1
Serious Injury5serious injury crashes1.1%
-16.7%prior 6
Minor Injury44minor injury crashes9.6%
46.7%prior 30
Possible Injury58possible injury crashes12.7%
16.0%prior 50
No Injury346no injury crashes75.9%
31.6%prior 263

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

In both years, 'Failed to yield right of way' was the leading contributing factor, with the count of such crashes rising from 116 in 2022 to 126 in 2023. However, other factors saw more significant year-over-year growth in count; crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 161.1% from 18 to 47, and crashes involving 'Followed too closely' grew by 69.2% from 39 to 66 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way126 (27.6%)8.6%prior 116
No improper driving71 (15.6%)36.5%prior 52
Followed too closely66 (14.5%)69.2%prior 39
Inattention47 (10.3%)161.1%prior 18
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road23 (5%)-17.9%prior 28
Other improper action16 (3.5%)23.1%prior 13
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner13 (2.9%)8.3%prior 12
Driving too fast for conditions10 (2.2%)-23.1%prior 13
Distracted10 (2.2%)100.0%prior 5
Over-correcting/over-steering9 (2%)

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

While most crashes in both periods occurred in clear weather on dry roads, there was a proportional shift toward more adverse conditions in 2023. The share of crashes happening in the rain increased from 4.5% of total crashes in 2022 to 9.6% in 2023. Similarly, crashes on wet road surfaces rose from a 16.7% share to a 21.3% share, and incidents on dark but lighted roadways increased from 16.7% to 20.2% of the total.

Weather

Clear274 (61.4%)
17.6%prior 233
Cloudy84 (18.8%)
20.0%prior 70
Rain44 (9.9%)
175.0%prior 16
Cloudy/Rain11 (2.5%)
22.2%prior 9
Snow8 (1.8%)
14.3%prior 7
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)6 (1.3%)
Rain/Cloudy5 (1.1%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds4 (0.9%)
Rain/Snow2 (0.4%)
Snow/Cloudy2 (0.4%)

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

Lighting

Daylight314 (68.9%)
21.2%prior 259
Dark - lighted roadway92 (20.2%)
55.9%prior 59
Dark - roadway not lighted21 (4.6%)
90.9%prior 11
Dusk19 (4.2%)
35.7%prior 14
Dawn8 (1.8%)
0.0%prior 8
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.4%)

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

Road Surface

Dry345 (75.7%)
21.1%prior 285
Wet97 (21.3%)
64.4%prior 59
Snow12 (2.6%)
Ice1 (0.2%)
-80.0%prior 5
Slush1 (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 vehicle makes involved in crashes remained largely consistent, with Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, and Honda being the most common in both 2022 and 2023. The number of Fords, Chevrolets, and Hondas involved in crashes all saw notable increases in count year-over-year. The age distribution of all persons involved in crashes also remained proportionally stable, with all age groups seeing an increase in raw numbers consistent with the overall rise in crash volume.

Top Vehicle Makes (876 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA128 (14.6%)
14.3%prior 112
2
FORD102 (11.6%)
47.8%prior 69
3
CHEVROLET92 (10.5%)
61.4%prior 57
4
HONDA81 (9.2%)
42.1%prior 57
5
JEEP62 (7.1%)
59.0%prior 39
6
NISSAN62 (7.1%)
21.6%prior 51
7
SUBARU33 (3.8%)
37.5%prior 24
8
GMC31 (3.5%)
55.0%prior 20
9
VOLKSWAGEN24 (2.7%)
41.2%prior 17
10
HYUNDAI24 (2.7%)
140.0%prior 10

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

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

Sex Distribution (1,090 persons with recorded sex)

Female550 (50.5%)
43.2%prior 384
Male540 (49.5%)
36.0%prior 397

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 became more concentrated in higher speed zones in 2023 compared to the prior year. The proportion of crashes occurring in 35 mph zones rose from 26.3% to 28.7%, and in 40 mph zones from 37.0% to 39.3%. The single fatal crash of 2023 occurred in a 60 mph zone, whereas the fatality in 2022 was in a 40 mph zone.

Fatal crashes by zone: 60 mph: 1 of 32 (3.125%)

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: HANOVER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 456
  • Total persons involved: 1,138
  • Total vehicles involved: 876

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). "HANOVER, 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/hanover/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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Hanover, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com