Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

139 CRASHES IN
MEDFORD, MA
MAY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2022

Total crashes in May 2023 were 139, a 52.75% increase compared to 91 crashes in May 2022. The most notable shift was the increase in total fatalities from 0 in May 2022 to 1 in May 2023.

139

52.7%was 91

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

16

-27.3%was 22

Persons Injured

32

88.2%was 17

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in May 2023 showed a rising trend compared to May 2022. The total number of crashes increased by 48, from 91 in May 2022 to 139 in May 2023, representing a 52.75% increase.

32

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2023

88.2% vs prior (17)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 17 in May 2022 to 32 in May 2023. The hit-and-run rate also rose from 18.7% of all crashes in May 2022 to 23% in May 2023, indicating an upward trend in these incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

14

Motorists Injured

Prior: 22-36.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Tuesday in both periods, increasing from 19 crashes in May 2022 to 24 crashes in May 2023. The peak hour shifted from 3 PM with 11 crashes in May 2022 to 1 PM with 19 crashes in May 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in May 2022 to 1 in May 2023, resulting in a fatal crash rate increase from 0% to 0.72%. Despite the rise in total crashes, the total number of injured persons decreased from 22 in May 2022 to 16 in May 2023. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased from 8.8% (8 crashes) to 5% (7 crashes), and possible injuries decreased from 7.7% (7 crashes) to 5% (7 crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.7%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.7%
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes5%
-12.5%prior 8
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes5%
0.0%prior 7
No Injury106no injury crashes76.3%
51.4%prior 70

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'No improper driving' increased from 19 crashes in May 2022 to 36 crashes in May 2023, an increase of 17 crashes. 'Inattention' more than doubled, rising from 6 crashes to 13 crashes, an increase of 7 crashes. 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' saw a substantial increase from 1 crash to 7 crashes, a 600% increase in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving36 (25.9%)89.5%prior 19
Followed too closely15 (10.8%)25.0%prior 12
Failed to yield right of way14 (10.1%)7.7%prior 13
Inattention13 (9.4%)116.7%prior 6
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings7 (5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6 (4.3%)
Fatigued/asleep3 (2.2%)
Visibility obstructed3 (2.2%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (1.4%)
Physical impairment2 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 76 in May 2022 to 115 in May 2023. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 82 to 119, while crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 8 to 14. Crashes during daylight hours also increased from 67 to 113, though crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 18 to 15.

Weather

Clear100 (75.8%)
53.8%prior 65
Clear/Clear15 (11.4%)
36.4%prior 11
Rain8 (6.1%)
Cloudy5 (3.8%)
-37.5%prior 8
Cloudy/Rain2 (1.5%)
Other1 (0.8%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight113 (85.0%)
68.7%prior 67
Dark - lighted roadway15 (11.3%)
-16.7%prior 18
Dawn2 (1.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (0.8%)
Dusk1 (0.8%)
Other1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry119 (89.5%)
45.1%prior 82
Wet14 (10.5%)
75.0%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained Toyota, Honda, and Ford in both periods, with their counts increasing from 33 to 54, 27 to 38, and 15 to 24 respectively. Among persons involved, the 65+ age group saw a significant increase from 15 persons in May 2022 to 33 persons in May 2023. The number of males involved increased from 121 to 143, and females involved increased from 65 to 112.

Top Vehicle Makes (270 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA54 (20%)
63.6%prior 33
2
HONDA38 (14.1%)
40.7%prior 27
3
FORD24 (8.9%)
60.0%prior 15
4
CHEVROLET17 (6.3%)
142.9%prior 7
5
NISSAN14 (5.2%)
7.7%prior 13
6
JEEP12 (4.4%)
50.0%prior 8
7
SUBARU11 (4.1%)
37.5%prior 8
8
HYUNDAI8 (3%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN7 (2.6%)
10
MERCEDES-BENZ6 (2.2%)
-14.3%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (255 persons with recorded sex)

Male143 (56.1%)
18.2%prior 121
Female112 (43.9%)
72.3%prior 65

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 25 mph speed zones increased from 49 in May 2022 to 96 in May 2023. This speed zone accounted for 1 fatal crash in May 2023, whereas no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in May 2022.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 96 (1.042%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: MEDFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 139
  • Total persons involved: 316
  • Total vehicles involved: 270

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). "MEDFORD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/medford/may-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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Medford, MA Crash Report — May 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com