Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

18 CRASHES IN
HARWICH, MA
APRIL 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2022

Total crashes in Harwich increased by 38.46% year-over-year, rising from 13 in April 2022 to 18 in April 2023. This period also saw a significant shift in crash outcomes, with total fatalities increasing from zero in April 2022 to one fatality in April 2023. Total injuries also rose from 1 to 3 over the same period.

18

38.5%was 13

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

3

200.0%was 1

Persons Injured

1

Fatal Crash Events

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Harwich increased in April 2023 compared to April 2022. The total number of crashes rose by 38.46%, from 13 to 18. This increase was accompanied by a rise in total fatalities from 0 to 1, and total injuries from 1 to 3.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1200.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · 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 Friday in April 2022, with 4 crashes, to Sunday in April 2023, also with 4 crashes. The peak hour changed from 2 PM with 5 crashes in April 2022 to 11 AM with 4 crashes in April 2023. Notably, crashes on Thursdays increased from 0 to 3, while crashes on Wednesdays and Fridays decreased by 3 each.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity distribution saw a notable increase in severe outcomes, with 1 fatal crash and 1 serious injury crash reported in April 2023, compared to zero in both categories in April 2022. Minor injury crashes doubled from 1 to 2 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury decreased from 92.3% in April 2022 to 77.8% in April 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes5.6%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes5.6%
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes11.1%
100.0%prior 1
No Injury14no injury crashes77.8%
16.7%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among common contributing factors, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes increased by 3, from 1 in April 2022 to 4 in April 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 1, from 3 to 4. 'No improper driving' remained constant at 3 crashes in both periods, though its share of total crashes decreased from 23.1% to 16.7%.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention4 (22.2%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (22.2%)
No improper driving3 (16.7%)
History heart/epilepsy/fainting1 (5.6%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (5.6%)
Other improper action1 (5.6%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5.6%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased by 1, from 11 to 12, but their share of total crashes decreased from 84.6% to 66.7%. Crashes in 'Cloudy' conditions doubled from 2 to 4, and 'Wet' road surface crashes increased from 1 to 3. The number of crashes occurring during 'Daylight' increased by 3, from 12 to 15, though their proportion of total crashes decreased from 92.3% to 83.3%.

Weather

Clear12 (66.7%)
9.1%prior 11
Cloudy4 (22.2%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.6%)
Rain1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (83.3%)
25.0%prior 12
Dark - lighted roadway1 (5.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (5.6%)
Dusk1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry15 (83.3%)
25.0%prior 12
Wet3 (16.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (30 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA7 (23.3%)
-22.2%prior 9
2
JEEP3 (10%)
3
FORD3 (10%)
4
HYUNDAI2 (6.7%)
5
VOLKSWAGEN2 (6.7%)
6
CHEVROLET2 (6.7%)
7
INFN1 (3.3%)
8
ISU1 (3.3%)
9
MERCEDES-BENZ1 (3.3%)
10
RAM1 (3.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (31 persons with recorded sex)

Male19 (61.3%)
-5.0%prior 20
Female12 (38.7%)
33.3%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph zones increased significantly, from 2 in April 2022 to 6 in April 2023. Crashes in 40 mph zones saw a smaller increase, from 4 to 5. The 35 mph speed zone, which had no crashes in April 2022, recorded 4 crashes and 1 fatality in April 2023.

Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 4 (25%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · 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: 2023-04-01 through 2023-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-04-01 through 2023-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: HARWICH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 18
  • Total persons involved: 33
  • Total vehicles involved: 30

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: April 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/harwich/april-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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Harwich, MA Crash Report — April 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com