Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

155 CRASHES IN
HOLYOKE, MA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

In Holyoke, total crashes increased by 5.44%, rising from 147 in August 2022 to 155 in August 2023. Total fatalities doubled from 1 to 2 during this period. The most notable year-over-year shift was in hit-and-run crashes, which increased by 140% from 10 to 24.

155

5.4%was 147

Total Crash Events

2

100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

67

4.7%was 64

Persons Injured

24

140.0%was 10

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 11 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for Holyoke in August 2023 compared to August 2022 shows an increase in crash activity. Total crashes rose by 5.44%, from 147 to 155. Concurrently, total fatalities increased by 100%, from 1 to 2, and total injuries saw a 4.69% rise, from 64 to 67.

24

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023

140.0% vs prior (10)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly by 140%, rising from 10 in August 2022 to 24 in August 2023. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate rose from 6.8% to 15.5% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

63

Motorists Injured

Prior: 613.3%

3

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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 Monday (27 crashes) in August 2022 to Tuesday (30 crashes) in August 2023. While the peak hour remained 4 p.m. in both periods, the number of crashes during this hour increased from 14 to 22. Crashes on Tuesday increased by 15, while crashes on Saturday decreased by 7.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The fatal crash rate in Holyoke increased from 0.7% in August 2022 to 1.3% in August 2023, with the number of fatal crashes rising from 1 to 2. Serious injury crashes (A) increased from 2 to 3, representing a 50% increase. Conversely, minor injury crashes (B) decreased from 26 to 21, a 19.2% reduction.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes1.3%
100.0%prior 1
Serious Injury3serious injury crashes1.9%
50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury21minor injury crashes13.5%
-19.2%prior 26
Possible Injury13possible injury crashes8.4%
0.0%prior 13
No Injury105no injury crashes67.7%
8.2%prior 97

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased significantly by 23 crashes (56.1%), rising from 41 in August 2022 to 64 in August 2023. Crashes where 'Followed too closely' was a factor increased by 3 crashes (30%), from 10 to 13. Conversely, crashes with 'Other improper action' as a factor decreased by 5 crashes (71.4%), from 7 to 2.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving64 (41.3%)56.1%prior 41
Inattention15 (9.7%)0.0%prior 15
Failed to yield right of way14 (9%)0.0%prior 14
Followed too closely13 (8.4%)30.0%prior 10
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner6 (3.9%)20.0%prior 5
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (3.2%)0.0%prior 5
Distracted4 (2.6%)
Made an improper turn3 (1.9%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (1.9%)-50.0%prior 6
Driving too fast for conditions3 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring on wet road surfaces saw a substantial increase of 250%, rising from 6 in August 2022 to 21 in August 2023. Crashes during clear weather conditions decreased by 8, from 106 to 98, while crashes during rain increased by 8, from 2 to 10. The number of crashes occurring in daylight increased by 8, from 114 to 122.

Weather

Clear98 (63.6%)
-7.5%prior 106
Clear/Unknown14 (9.1%)
Clear/Other11 (7.1%)
10.0%prior 10
Rain10 (6.5%)
Cloudy10 (6.5%)
0.0%prior 10
Cloudy/Rain5 (3.2%)
Cloudy/Other2 (1.3%)
Rain/Unknown2 (1.3%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (0.6%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.6%)
-91.7%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight122 (79.2%)
7.0%prior 114
Dark - lighted roadway23 (14.9%)
-8.0%prior 25
Dusk3 (1.9%)
-40.0%prior 5
Dawn2 (1.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (1.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.6%)
Other1 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry133 (86.4%)
-5.7%prior 141
Wet21 (13.6%)
250.0%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The number of crashes involving Toyota vehicles increased by 33.3%, rising from 39 in August 2022 to 52 in August 2023, making Toyota the top make in both periods. Among persons involved in crashes, notable increases were observed in the 0-15 age group (from 18 to 28), 16-20 age group (from 23 to 34), 26-34 age group (from 66 to 78), and 55-64 age group (from 38 to 50).

Top Vehicle Makes (302 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA52 (17.2%)
33.3%prior 39
2
HONDA38 (12.6%)
-2.6%prior 39
3
FORD35 (11.6%)
0.0%prior 35
4
HYUNDAI27 (8.9%)
42.1%prior 19
5
NISSAN24 (7.9%)
4.3%prior 23
6
CHEVROLET18 (6%)
63.6%prior 11
7
JEEP9 (3%)
12.5%prior 8
8
SUBARU9 (3%)
-10.0%prior 10
9
ACURA8 (2.6%)
-27.3%prior 11
10
MAZDA6 (2%)
-25.0%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (357 persons with recorded sex)

Male202 (56.6%)
10.4%prior 183
Female155 (43.4%)
14.8%prior 135

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased slightly from 101 to 98, but fatal crashes within this zone doubled from 1 to 2, causing the fatal rate to increase from 0.99% to 2.041%. Crashes in 65 mph zones remained stable at 9 for both periods. There were no fatal crashes in 65 mph zones in either period.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 2 of 98 (2.041%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: HOLYOKE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 155
  • Total persons involved: 419
  • Total vehicles involved: 302

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). "HOLYOKE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/holyoke/august-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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Holyoke, MA Crash Report — August 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com