Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

161 CRASHES IN
MENDON, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Mendon, total traffic crashes decreased by 10.1%, from 179 in 2022 to 161 in 2023. While total injuries remained nearly unchanged, the most notable year-over-year shift was the reduction in traffic fatalities, which dropped from two in the prior year to zero in the current year. This period also saw a significant decrease in crashes attributed to failing to yield and following too closely.

161

-10.1%was 179

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

56

-1.8%was 57

Persons Injured

9

-25.0%was 12

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. 4 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 safety trends in Mendon show a positive direction year-over-year. The total number of crashes fell by 10.1% from 179 to 161. More significantly, fatal outcomes were eliminated, with zero fatalities in 2023 compared to two in 2022, while total injuries remained stable with 56 in 2023 versus 57 in 2022.

9

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

-25.0% vs prior (12)

Hit-and-run incidents showed a downward trend. The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 12 in 2022 to 9 in 2023. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate as a proportion of all crashes also declined, moving from 6.7% in the prior year to 5.6% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2-100.0%

56

Motorists Injured

Prior: 57-1.8%

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 timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 35 incidents, a change from 2022 when Sunday was the peak day with 36 incidents. The peak hour also shifted slightly earlier, from 4 p.m. (23 crashes) in 2022 to 3 p.m. (15 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

There was a marked improvement in crash severity from 2022 to 2023. Fatal crashes were eliminated, dropping from one incident in the prior year to zero. The count of serious injury crashes also decreased from five to two. Conversely, minor injury crashes increased from 21 to 26, while possible injury crashes fell from 14 to 9.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes1.2%
-60.0%prior 5
Minor Injury26minor injury crashes16.1%
23.8%prior 21
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes5.6%
-35.7%prior 14
No Injury120no injury crashes74.5%
-11.8%prior 136

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 top three contributing factors remained consistent across both years: 'No improper driving,' 'Failed to yield right of way,' and 'Followed too closely.' However, the count of crashes attributed to the top two improper driving factors saw a substantial decrease. Incidents involving 'Failed to yield right of way' dropped from 33 to 23, a 30.3% decrease in count, and 'Followed too closely' incidents fell from 30 to 20, a 33.3% decrease in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving52 (32.3%)2.0%prior 51
Failed to yield right of way23 (14.3%)-30.3%prior 33
Followed too closely20 (12.4%)-33.3%prior 30
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road16 (9.9%)0.0%prior 16
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings10 (6.2%)-9.1%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions6 (3.7%)-14.3%prior 7
Exceeded authorized speed limit5 (3.1%)
Fatigued/asleep4 (2.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner4 (2.5%)
Distracted3 (1.9%)

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

Fewer crashes occurred under adverse road and lighting conditions in 2023 compared to 2022. The number of crashes on non-dry surfaces (wet, ice, or snow) decreased from 45 to 32. Similarly, crashes happening in dark conditions (lighted or unlighted roadways) fell from 58 in 2022 to 49 in 2023.

Weather

Clear98 (60.9%)
-13.3%prior 113
Clear/Clear19 (11.8%)
111.1%prior 9
Cloudy10 (6.2%)
-28.6%prior 14
Rain7 (4.3%)
0.0%prior 7
Snow6 (3.7%)
-14.3%prior 7
Rain/Cloudy6 (3.7%)
Cloudy/Rain5 (3.1%)
-16.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Clear2 (1.2%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds2 (1.2%)
Snow/Rain1 (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

Daylight98 (60.9%)
-10.1%prior 109
Dark - roadway not lighted20 (12.4%)
25.0%prior 16
Dark - lighted roadway19 (11.8%)
-52.5%prior 40
Dark - unknown roadway lighting10 (6.2%)
Dawn8 (5.0%)
60.0%prior 5
Dusk6 (3.7%)
-14.3%prior 7

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

Road Surface

Dry129 (80.1%)
-3.7%prior 134
Wet26 (16.1%)
-7.1%prior 28
Ice3 (1.9%)
-57.1%prior 7
Snow3 (1.9%)
-66.7%prior 9

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The demographic profile of involved vehicles and persons shifted between the two years. Ford (47 vehicles) replaced Chevrolet (39 vehicles) as the most frequently involved make. Analysis of persons involved shows a sharp decline in the 16-20 age group, from 67 individuals in 2022 to 23 in 2023. In contrast, the number of persons in the 65+ age group involved in crashes increased from 36 to 48.

Top Vehicle Makes (276 vehicles)

1
FORD47 (17%)
56.7%prior 30
2
TOYOTA30 (10.9%)
-21.1%prior 38
3
HONDA28 (10.1%)
-20.0%prior 35
4
CHEVROLET26 (9.4%)
-33.3%prior 39
5
JEEP18 (6.5%)
-21.7%prior 23
6
HYUNDAI17 (6.2%)
240.0%prior 5
7
NISSAN14 (5.1%)
-39.1%prior 23
8
SUBARU12 (4.3%)
-36.8%prior 19
9
VOLKSWAGEN8 (2.9%)
10
RAM7 (2.5%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (333 persons with recorded sex)

Male184 (55.3%)
-17.9%prior 224
Female149 (44.7%)
-9.7%prior 165

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

Crash distribution across speed zones shows a decrease in incidents in several key zones. Crashes in 30 mph zones fell from 73 to 62, and those in 40 mph zones dropped from 41 to 31. The single fatal crash recorded in 2022 occurred in a 45 mph zone; no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in 2023.

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: MENDON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 161
  • Total persons involved: 351
  • Total vehicles involved: 276

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). "MENDON, 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/mendon/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

Mendon, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com