Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

121 CRASHES IN
MONTAGUE, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Montague, total traffic crashes increased from 112 in 2022 to 121 in 2023, an 8% rise. While total injuries remained nearly stable, decreasing from 28 to 27, the most notable year-over-year change was the recording of one fatal crash in 2023, whereas none occurred in the prior year.

121

8.0%was 112

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

27

-3.6%was 28

Persons Injured

4

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 · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend shows an increase in crash frequency in 2023 compared to the previous year. Total collisions rose by 8%, from 112 to 121 incidents. Despite this increase in crashes, the number of resulting injuries saw a slight decline from 28 to 27, though 2023 included one fatality which was not present in the 2022 data.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

0.0% vs prior (4)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at four incidents in both 2023 and 2022. However, due to the overall increase in total crashes in the current period, the hit-and-run rate showed a slight downward trend, decreasing from 3.6% of all crashes in 2022 to 3.3% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 2-50.0%

25

Motorists Injured

Prior: 26-3.8%

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 temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Wednesday with 27 incidents, a change from 2022 when Thursday was the peak day with 21 incidents. The peak hour also shifted slightly earlier, from 3 PM in 2022 (12 crashes) to 2 PM in 2023 (12 crashes).

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 increased in 2023 with the occurrence of one fatal crash, representing 0.8% of all incidents, compared to zero fatal crashes in 2022. The number of serious injury crashes was unchanged at two incidents in both years, accounting for 1.7% of crashes in 2023 and 1.8% in 2022. Minor injury crashes increased from 12 to 14, a slight rise in proportion from 10.7% to 11.6% of all crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.8%
Serious Injury2serious injury crashes1.7%
0.0%prior 2
Minor Injury14minor injury crashes11.6%
16.7%prior 12
Possible Injury6possible injury crashes5%
0.0%prior 6
No Injury94no injury crashes77.7%
4.4%prior 90

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 factor in both years was 'No improper driving,' with its count increasing from 24 in 2022 to 32 in 2023. 'Inattention' remained a top factor but its count decreased from 20 to 18 incidents. Notably, crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' doubled in count, rising from 3 incidents in 2022 to 6 in 2023, a 100% increase in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving32 (26.4%)33.3%prior 24
Inattention18 (14.9%)-10.0%prior 20
Other improper action11 (9.1%)57.1%prior 7
Failed to yield right of way7 (5.8%)-30.0%prior 10
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner7 (5.8%)-12.5%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions6 (5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (4.1%)
Followed too closely4 (3.3%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway4 (3.3%)
Visibility obstructed4 (3.3%)

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

Crashes occurring in adverse conditions increased in 2023. Collisions on wet roads more than doubled, increasing from 12 to 25 incidents, while crashes in the rain grew from 3 to 11. Consequently, the share of crashes on dry roads decreased from 73.2% in 2022 to 66.9% in 2023. Similarly, crashes during daylight hours made up a smaller proportion of the total (62.8% in 2023 vs. 66.1% in 2022), as crashes in dark conditions increased from 31 to 40 incidents.

Weather

Clear69 (57.5%)
-10.4%prior 77
Cloudy15 (12.5%)
87.5%prior 8
Rain11 (9.2%)
Snow7 (5.8%)
Clear/Other4 (3.3%)
-42.9%prior 7
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (2.5%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (2.5%)
Clear/Unknown2 (1.7%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (1.7%)
Unknown/Other1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight76 (63.3%)
2.7%prior 74
Dark - roadway not lighted24 (20.0%)
26.3%prior 19
Dark - lighted roadway16 (13.3%)
33.3%prior 12
Dusk3 (2.5%)
Dawn1 (0.8%)

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

Road Surface

Dry81 (68.1%)
-1.2%prior 82
Wet25 (21.0%)
108.3%prior 12
Snow9 (7.6%)
0.0%prior 9
Ice3 (2.5%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.8%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The ranking of vehicle makes involved in crashes saw some changes year-over-year. While Toyota remained the most frequent make in both periods (38 vehicles in 2022, 35 in 2023), Honda's involvement increased from 23 to 30 vehicles, moving it from third to second place. Chevrolet dropped from second to fourth, with its count decreasing from 25 to 14. The distribution of persons involved by age remained largely consistent, with the 65+ age group being one of the most represented in both years (31 persons in 2022 and 32 in 2023).

Top Vehicle Makes (188 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA35 (18.6%)
-7.9%prior 38
2
HONDA30 (16%)
30.4%prior 23
3
FORD18 (9.6%)
38.5%prior 13
4
CHEVROLET14 (7.4%)
-44.0%prior 25
5
SUBARU12 (6.4%)
33.3%prior 9
6
HYUNDAI11 (5.9%)
120.0%prior 5
7
NISSAN7 (3.7%)
-12.5%prior 8
8
KIA7 (3.7%)
9
JEEP5 (2.7%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN5 (2.7%)
-28.6%prior 7

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

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

Sex Distribution (199 persons with recorded sex)

Male107 (53.8%)
4.9%prior 102
Female91 (45.7%)
-1.1%prior 92
X / Unspecified1 (0.5%)
0.0%prior 1

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

The distribution of crashes across speed zones shifted in 2023. Crashes in 20 mph zones decreased from 28 to 19, while incidents in 30 mph zones increased from 13 to 23. The single fatal crash recorded in 2023 occurred in a 40 mph zone, a zone which had no fatalities the previous year. Crashes in 50 mph zones also saw an increase from 10 to 16 incidents.

Fatal crashes by zone: 40 mph: 1 of 19 (5.263%)

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: MONTAGUE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 121
  • Total persons involved: 221
  • Total vehicles involved: 188

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). "MONTAGUE, 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/montague/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

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Montague, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com