Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

179 CRASHES IN
LEE, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Lee recorded 179 total vehicle crashes, a 7.7% decrease from the 194 crashes reported in 2022. The number of injuries also declined from 50 to 41 year-over-year. A notable shift was observed in crashes involving suspected driving under the influence (DUI), which doubled from 4 incidents in 2022 to 8 in 2023.

179

-7.7%was 194

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

41

-18.0%was 50

Persons Injured

8

-27.3%was 11

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. 8 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 incidents in Lee showed a downward trend from 2022 to 2023. Total crashes decreased by 7.7%, from 194 to 179. Similarly, the number of persons injured in these crashes fell by 18%, from 50 to 41, while fatalities remained at zero for both years.

8

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

-27.3% vs prior (11)

The number of hit-and-run incidents decreased from 2022 to 2023. There were 8 hit-and-run crashes in 2023, down from 11 in the prior year. The hit-and-run rate, as a percentage of total crashes, also declined from 5.7% in 2022 to 4.5% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

38

Motorists Injured

Prior: 50-24.0%

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 periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Friday with 34 incidents, a change from 2022 when Saturday was the peak day with 35 crashes. The most frequent crash hour also moved from 12 PM in 2022 (18 crashes) to the afternoon commute time of 4 PM in 2023 (17 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

Crash severity saw a notable improvement, with zero fatal crashes reported in both 2022 and 2023. The number of crashes resulting in serious injuries decreased from 4 in 2022 to 1 in 2023. The proportion of crashes involving any level of injury remained stable, accounting for 18.6% of crashes in 2022 and 18.4% in 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.6%
-75.0%prior 4
Minor Injury23minor injury crashes12.8%
4.5%prior 22
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes5%
-10.0%prior 10
No Injury138no injury crashes77.1%
-8.6%prior 151

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

The leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with 'No improper driving' (53 crashes in 2023 vs. 50 in 2022) and 'Inattention' (33 crashes in both years) as the top two reported factors. The count of crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased from 11 to 6. Conversely, crashes involving 'Distracted' driving increased from a count of 2 in 2022 to 6 in 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving53 (29.6%)6.0%prior 50
Inattention33 (18.4%)0.0%prior 33
Failed to yield right of way14 (7.8%)-6.7%prior 15
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road11 (6.1%)-8.3%prior 12
Followed too closely9 (5%)28.6%prior 7
Other improper action6 (3.4%)-45.5%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions6 (3.4%)-45.5%prior 11
Distracted6 (3.4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway5 (2.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner5 (2.8%)0.0%prior 5

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

In both 2022 and 2023, the majority of crashes occurred in clear weather and on dry road surfaces. However, the proportion of crashes happening in darkness increased, from 26.3% of all incidents in 2022 to 36.9% in 2023. Crashes on snowy surfaces decreased from 21 incidents in 2022 to 8 in 2023.

Weather

Clear118 (66.3%)
-4.1%prior 123
Cloudy21 (11.8%)
23.5%prior 17
Rain13 (7.3%)
-18.8%prior 16
Snow8 (4.5%)
-50.0%prior 16
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (1.7%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (1.1%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (1.1%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.1%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (1.1%)
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.6%)

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

Lighting

Daylight106 (59.2%)
-19.7%prior 132
Dark - roadway not lighted34 (19.0%)
47.8%prior 23
Dark - lighted roadway32 (17.9%)
14.3%prior 28
Dusk4 (2.2%)
-33.3%prior 6
Dawn2 (1.1%)
Other1 (0.6%)

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

Road Surface

Dry132 (73.7%)
0.0%prior 132
Wet34 (19.0%)
-5.6%prior 36
Snow8 (4.5%)
-61.9%prior 21
Slush5 (2.8%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The top two vehicle makes involved in crashes, Toyota and Honda, remained consistent across both years, though their counts slightly decreased. Subaru, which was the third most common make in 2022 with 31 vehicles, dropped to fifth place in 2023 with 16 vehicles, while Ford moved into the top three. Regarding persons involved, the 65+ age group saw a decrease in involvement from 77 individuals in 2022 to 56 in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (277 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA40 (14.4%)
-2.4%prior 41
2
HONDA30 (10.8%)
-9.1%prior 33
3
FORD27 (9.7%)
8.0%prior 25
4
CHEVROLET17 (6.1%)
-29.2%prior 24
5
SUBARU16 (5.8%)
-48.4%prior 31
6
NISSAN15 (5.4%)
-16.7%prior 18
7
HYUNDAI12 (4.3%)
20.0%prior 10
8
JEEP11 (4%)
0.0%prior 11
9
DODGE7 (2.5%)
40.0%prior 5
10
AUDI6 (2.2%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (301 persons with recorded sex)

Male185 (61.5%)
-15.5%prior 219
Female116 (38.5%)
-19.4%prior 144

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

Analysis of crashes by posted speed limit shows a shift in location between the two years. Crashes occurring in 65 mph zones increased from 40 in 2022 to 46 in 2023. Conversely, incidents in lower speed zones decreased, with crashes in 25 mph zones falling from 48 to 40 and in 35 mph zones from 30 to 20. There were no fatal crashes in any speed zone during either period.

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: LEE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 179
  • Total persons involved: 341
  • Total vehicles involved: 277

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). "LEE, 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/lee/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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Lee, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com