Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

45 CRASHES IN
LUDLOW, MA
SEPTEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2022

In September 2023, Ludlow experienced 45 total crashes, a decrease of 15.1% compared to 53 crashes in September 2022. Despite the reduction in total crashes, the number of injured persons increased by 44.4%, from 9 to 13. Notably, hit-and-run crashes saw a significant decrease from 5 incidents in the prior period to 1 in the current period.

45

-15.1%was 53

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

13

44.4%was 9

Persons Injured

1

-80.0%was 5

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a decrease in total crashes, falling from 53 in September 2022 to 45 in September 2023, representing a 15.1% reduction. However, total injuries increased by 44.4%, from 9 to 13 persons, suggesting a rise in injury severity per crash. Fatalities remained stable at zero for both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023

-80.0% vs prior (5)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased significantly from 5 incidents in September 2022 to 1 incident in September 2023. This represents an 80% reduction in hit-and-run crash count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 9.4% of total crashes to 2.2%.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

12

Motorists Injured

Prior: 933.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · 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 Tuesday with 10 crashes in September 2022 to Sunday with 13 crashes in September 2023. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4 p.m. with 6 crashes in the prior period to 6 p.m. with 5 crashes in the current period. Crashes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday saw decreases, while Sunday and Monday experienced increases year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both September 2022 and September 2023. Total injuries increased from 9 to 13 persons year-over-year, representing a 44.4% rise. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor or possible injuries increased, with 26.7% of current crashes involving injuries compared to 15.1% in the prior period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury7minor injury crashes15.6%
16.7%prior 6
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes11.1%
400.0%prior 1
No Injury31no injury crashes68.9%
-22.5%prior 40

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'Inattention,' increased by 1 crash, from 15 in September 2022 to 16 in September 2023. 'No improper driving' decreased by 1 crash, from 9 to 8. 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased from 0 to 2 crashes, while 'Followed too closely' decreased by 2 crashes, from 3 to 1.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention16 (35.6%)6.7%prior 15
No improper driving8 (17.8%)-11.1%prior 9
Failed to yield right of way4 (8.9%)
Other improper action2 (4.4%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (4.4%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (4.4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (4.4%)
Visibility obstructed1 (2.2%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (2.2%)
Distracted1 (2.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 38 to 28, while those in rainy conditions increased from 3 to 6 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes on wet road surfaces remained stable at approximately 22% in both periods. Crashes occurring during daylight hours decreased from 37 to 31, while those during dusk increased from 4 to 5.

Weather

Clear28 (65.1%)
-26.3%prior 38
Rain6 (14.0%)
Clear/Cloudy4 (9.3%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (7.0%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.3%)
-87.5%prior 8
Cloudy1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight31 (72.1%)
-16.2%prior 37
Dark - lighted roadway6 (14.0%)
-14.3%prior 7
Dusk5 (11.6%)
Dawn1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry33 (76.7%)
-17.5%prior 40
Wet10 (23.3%)
-16.7%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 98 in September 2022 to 75 in September 2023. The top vehicle make involved shifted, with Honda decreasing from 14 to 5, and Ford increasing from 8 to 12. Among persons involved, those aged 26-34 saw a decrease from 21 to 8, while those aged 35-44 increased from 15 to 20, and 55-64 increased from 10 to 18.

Top Vehicle Makes (75 vehicles)

1
FORD12 (16%)
50.0%prior 8
2
TOYOTA10 (13.3%)
25.0%prior 8
3
NISSAN8 (10.7%)
-20.0%prior 10
4
CHEVROLET5 (6.7%)
0.0%prior 5
5
HONDA5 (6.7%)
-64.3%prior 14
6
HYUNDAI5 (6.7%)
7
SUBARU3 (4%)
8
ACURA3 (4%)
9
JEEP3 (4%)
10
MITS3 (4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (86 persons with recorded sex)

Male52 (60.5%)
-17.5%prior 63
Female34 (39.5%)
-5.6%prior 36

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 12 to 8, and in 35 mph zones from 15 to 12. Conversely, crashes in 25 mph zones saw a slight increase from 12 to 13. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · 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: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: LUDLOW, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 45
  • Total persons involved: 93
  • Total vehicles involved: 75

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). "LUDLOW, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/ludlow/september-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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Ludlow, MA Crash Report — September 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com