ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MELROSE, MA · 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/melrose/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
258 CRASHES IN
MELROSE, MA
2023
In 2023, Melrose recorded 258 total vehicle crashes, a marginal increase from the 257 crashes recorded in 2022. While the overall crash count remained stable, the most significant year-over-year change was the reduction in fatalities, which dropped from two in 2022 to zero in 2023. Conversely, the total number of people injured increased from 61 to 71 during the same period.
258
▲ 0.4%was 257
Total Crash Events
0
▼ -100.0%was 2
Persons Killed
71
▲ 16.4%was 61
Persons Injured
16
▲ 6.7%was 15
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 crash trends in Melrose remained stable year-over-year, with a total of 258 crashes in 2023 compared to 257 in 2022, an increase of just one incident. This represents a less than 1% change, indicating a consistent level of crash frequency between the two periods. However, total reported injuries rose by 16.4%, from 61 to 71, even as the total number of crashes held steady.
16
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▲ 6.7% vs prior (15)
The number of hit-and-run incidents saw a slight increase year-over-year. In 2023, there were 16 hit-and-run crashes, up from 15 in 2022. The hit-and-run rate also edged up slightly, increasing from 5.8% of all crashes in 2022 to 6.2% in 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
0
Motorists Killed
3
Pedestrians Injured
1
Cyclists Injured
67
Motorists Injured
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 remained largely consistent between 2022 and 2023. The afternoon rush hour, specifically the 4 p.m. hour, was the peak time for crashes in both years, with 30 incidents in 2022 and 28 in 2023. Tuesday was the most frequent day for crashes in both periods, accounting for 44 crashes in 2022 and co-leading with Monday at 50 crashes in 2023.
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 in 2023, with zero fatal crashes recorded, down from two in 2022. The number of serious injury crashes increased slightly from five to six, while minor injury crashes remained constant at 30. Consequently, the proportion of crashes resulting in no injury increased from 73.5% in 2022 to 76.7% in 2023.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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 remained consistent, though their counts shifted. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a significant increase in count, rising from 17 in 2022 to 27 in 2023, a 58.8% increase. Similarly, 'Failed to yield right of way' incidents increased from 18 to 22. In contrast, crashes where a driver was noted as 'Distracted' decreased from 13 to 8. The most cited factor in both years was 'No improper driving', which was noted in 82 crashes in 2022 and 91 crashes in 2023.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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
The vast majority of crashes in both 2022 and 2023 occurred in clear weather and on dry roads. In 2023, 79.8% of crashes were on dry surfaces, compared to 77.4% in 2022. Crashes during daylight hours accounted for 71.7% of incidents in 2023, a slight increase from 69.6% in the prior year. The number of crashes on wet roads increased from 36 to 46, but these adverse conditions still represented a minority of total incidents.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
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 three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained the same across both years: Toyota, Honda, and Ford. In 2023, Toyota (70) and Honda (69) were nearly tied for the most involved make, whereas in 2022 Toyota was more dominant with 88 involved vehicles compared to Honda's 65. The age demographics of persons involved in crashes also showed stability, with the 26-34 and 35-44 age groups being the most frequently involved in 2023, similar to the pattern observed in 2022.
Top Vehicle Makes (493 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
43 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (530 persons with recorded sex)
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
Crashes predominantly occurred in 25 MPH zones in both periods, with the count increasing from 195 in 2022 to 205 in 2023. This speed zone accounted for the vast majority of all crashes where a speed limit was recorded. Notably, there were no fatal crashes in 2023 across any speed zone. This contrasts with 2022, where the data recorded one fatal crash occurring in a 30 MPH zone.
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: MELROSE, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 258
- Total persons involved: 575
- Total vehicles involved: 493
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). "MELROSE, 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/melrose/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved