ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · HARWICH, MA · 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/harwich/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
270 CRASHES IN
HARWICH, MA
2023
In 2023, Harwich recorded 270 total vehicle crashes, an increase of 7.1% from the 252 crashes documented in 2022. This period also saw a rise in total injuries from 88 to 103. The most significant year-over-year shift was the occurrence of one fatal crash in 2023, whereas there were no traffic fatalities in the prior year.
270
▲ 7.1%was 252
Total Crash Events
1
Persons Killed
103
▲ 17.0%was 88
Persons Injured
4
▲ 33.3%was 3
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. 4 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
Overall traffic safety trends in Harwich worsened from 2022 to 2023. The total number of crashes increased by 7.1%, rising from 252 to 270. This was accompanied by a 17.0% increase in persons injured, from 88 to 103, and the city's first traffic fatality in this two-year period.
4
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▲ 33.3% vs prior (3)
Hit-and-run incidents saw a slight increase year-over-year. The total count of hit-and-run crashes rose from 3 in 2022 to 4 in 2023. This corresponds to a minor increase in the hit-and-run rate, which edged up from 1.2% to 1.5% of all crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
3
Cyclists Injured
100
Motorists Injured
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 showed some shifts between the two years. The most active day for collisions moved from Friday (47 crashes) in 2022 to Monday (52 crashes) in 2023. The peak hour for incidents also shifted slightly earlier, from 4 p.m. in the prior year (29 crashes) to 3 p.m. in the current year (37 crashes). July remained the month with the highest crash volume in both periods, with 42 crashes in 2022 and 46 in 2023.
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 in 2023, marked by one fatal crash, whereas none were recorded in 2022. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) rose from 24.2% in 2022 to 26.3% in 2023. This was driven by increases in the counts of serious injuries (from 6 to 7) and minor injuries (from 45 to 48). Consequently, the share of non-injury crashes decreased from 73.8% to 71.9% year-over-year.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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
While "Failed to yield right of way" was a leading contributing factor in both years, its count decreased from 59 in 2022 to 53 in 2023. The most significant change was the rise in crashes attributed to "Inattention," which increased by 72.4% from a count of 29 to 50 incidents, becoming the second-most cited factor in 2023. Crashes involving "Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner" also grew in count from 10 to 17.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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 majority of crashes in both 2022 and 2023 occurred in daylight on dry roads. However, there was a noticeable increase in the share of crashes happening in adverse conditions in 2023. Crashes on wet roads increased from 13.9% of the total in 2022 to 17.8% in 2023, and the count of rain-related crashes nearly doubled from 11 to 21. The share of crashes occurring in darkness on lighted roadways also grew from 13.1% to 16.3% year-over-year.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The demographic profile of persons involved in crashes shifted, with the 65+ age group seeing its representation increase from 18.5% of all persons in 2022 to 24.2% in 2023. The total number of individuals in this age group involved in crashes rose from 111 to 163. Regarding vehicle makes, Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle in both years, with its count rising from 86 to 92. Ford's involvement decreased from 65 to 48 vehicles, while Chevrolet's count held steady at 45.
Top Vehicle Makes (490 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
17 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (639 persons with recorded sex)
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
The 30 mph speed zone accounted for the highest number of crashes in both periods, with 85 incidents in 2022 and 82 in 2023. There was a notable shift in crash locations toward higher speed zones, with collisions in 40 mph zones increasing from 40 to 53 and in 50 mph zones from 31 to 35. The single fatal crash recorded in 2023 occurred in an area with a posted speed limit of 35 mph.
Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 43 (2.326%)
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: HARWICH, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 270
- Total persons involved: 673
- Total vehicles involved: 490
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). "HARWICH, 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/harwich/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved