Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

27 CRASHES IN
MARBLEHEAD, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

Total crashes in Marblehead increased by 58.8% from October 2022 to October 2023, rising from 17 to 27 crashes. This period also saw a notable shift in crash severity, with one fatality recorded in October 2023 compared to zero in the prior year. The number of injured persons also increased significantly, from 2 to 6.

27

58.8%was 17

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

6

200.0%was 2

Persons Injured

5

66.7%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 · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Marblehead showed a significant upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased from 17 in October 2022 to 27 in October 2023, representing a 58.8% increase. This indicates a substantial rise in crash activity during the current period.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023

66.7% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run incidents increased from 3 crashes in October 2022 to 5 crashes in October 2023. The hit-and-run rate also saw a slight increase, rising from 17.6% of total crashes in the prior period to 18.5% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2150.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. In October 2023, Monday was the peak day for crashes with 6 incidents, while in October 2022, Tuesday had the highest count with 5 crashes. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 2 PM with 3 crashes in October 2022 to 10 AM with 4 crashes in October 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity saw a concerning increase, with one fatal crash recorded in October 2023, resulting in 1 fatality, compared to zero fatal crashes and zero fatalities in October 2022. Total injuries increased from 2 in October 2022 to 6 in October 2023. Minor injury crashes, which were absent in the prior period, accounted for 3 crashes (11.1% share) in October 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes3.7%
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes11.1%
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes3.7%
-50.0%prior 2
No Injury18no injury crashes66.7%
20.0%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The most common contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' saw a substantial increase from 7 crashes in October 2022 to 17 crashes in October 2023, a 142.9% rise in count. Crashes attributed to 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' doubled from 1 to 2 incidents. Conversely, 'Physical impairment' as a factor decreased by 50%, from 2 crashes to 1 crash year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving17 (63%)142.9%prior 7
Failed to yield right of way2 (7.4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (7.4%)
Inattention1 (3.7%)
Distracted1 (3.7%)
Physical impairment1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 11 in October 2022 to 18 in October 2023. Similarly, crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 14 to 22 incidents year-over-year. Crashes during 'Daylight' conditions also increased, from 13 to 21 incidents, while crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' remained stable at 3 for both periods.

Weather

Clear18 (66.7%)
63.6%prior 11
Rain3 (11.1%)
Cloudy2 (7.4%)
Unknown/Other1 (3.7%)
Cloudy/Fog, smog, smoke1 (3.7%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (3.7%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight21 (84.0%)
61.5%prior 13
Dark - lighted roadway3 (12.0%)
Dusk1 (4.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry22 (84.6%)
57.1%prior 14
Wet4 (15.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (52 vehicles)

1
JEEP6 (11.5%)
2
TOYOTA5 (9.6%)
0.0%prior 5
3
HONDA4 (7.7%)
4
HYUNDAI3 (5.8%)
5
FORD3 (5.8%)
6
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (5.8%)
7
VOLKSWAGEN3 (5.8%)
8
SUBARU2 (3.8%)
9
ACURA2 (3.8%)
10
CHEVROLET2 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (36 persons with recorded sex)

Male21 (58.3%)
31.3%prior 16
Female15 (41.7%)
150.0%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 20 mph speed zone increased significantly from 2 in October 2022 to 8 in October 2023, a 300% rise. The 25 mph speed zone also saw a substantial increase from 6 to 15 crashes, and recorded the sole fatal crash in October 2023 with a 6.667% fatal rate for that zone. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased by 50% from 6 to 3, and the 35 mph zone saw no crashes in October 2023 compared to 2 in the prior period.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 15 (6.667%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: MARBLEHEAD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 27
  • Total persons involved: 58
  • Total vehicles involved: 52

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). "MARBLEHEAD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/marblehead/october-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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Marblehead, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com