Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

701 CRASHES IN
NATICK, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Natick recorded 701 total traffic crashes, an increase of 12.0% from the 626 crashes documented in 2022. While the overall number of crashes rose, the most notable year-over-year shift was the decrease in fatalities from one in 2022 to zero in 2023. The total number of injuries also saw a slight increase from 124 to 136.

701

12.0%was 626

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

136

9.7%was 124

Persons Injured

34

54.5%was 22

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. 3 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

Crash data for Natick indicates a rising trend in collision frequency year-over-year. Total crashes increased from 626 in 2022 to 701 in 2023, while the number of people injured rose from 124 to 136. Despite the increase in crash volume, the number of fatalities fell to zero.

34

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

54.5% vs prior (22)

Hit-and-run incidents showed an upward trend in 2023. The total count of hit-and-run crashes increased from 22 in 2022 to 34 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all crashes rose from 3.5% to 4.9% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 4-25.0%

6

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10-40.0%

126

Motorists Injured

Prior: 10915.6%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 10.0%

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 showed some changes between the two periods. The peak hour for collisions remained 5 p.m. in both 2022 (90 crashes) and 2023 (81 crashes). However, the peak day shifted from Thursday in 2022, with 104 crashes, to Monday in 2023, with 111 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 outcomes improved, with zero fatal crashes reported in 2023 compared to one in 2022. However, the number of serious injury crashes increased from 5 to 8 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries grew from 81.8% in 2022 to 85.0% in 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury8serious injury crashes1.1%
60.0%prior 5
Minor Injury64minor injury crashes9.1%
16.4%prior 55
Possible Injury30possible injury crashes4.3%
-23.1%prior 39
No Injury596no injury crashes85%
16.4%prior 512

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 to crashes remained consistent, with 'Inattention' being the most cited cause in both years. The count of crashes attributed to inattention rose from 198 in 2022 to 233 in 2023. Incidents involving 'Followed too closely' also increased in count from 69 to 87, while crashes due to 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 64 to 47.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention233 (33.2%)17.7%prior 198
No improper driving128 (18.3%)15.3%prior 111
Followed too closely87 (12.4%)26.1%prior 69
Failed to yield right of way47 (6.7%)-26.6%prior 64
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road42 (6%)27.3%prior 33
Other improper action42 (6%)5.0%prior 40
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner24 (3.4%)41.2%prior 17
Distracted17 (2.4%)88.9%prior 9
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings14 (2%)-33.3%prior 21
Made an improper turn10 (1.4%)11.1%prior 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

The environmental conditions at the time of crashes were very similar between 2022 and 2023. In both years, the majority of incidents occurred in daylight (72.0% in 2022 vs. 74.0% in 2023) and during clear weather (73.2% vs. 74.3%). The proportion of crashes on dry road surfaces was also stable, accounting for 81.5% of crashes in 2022 and 81.2% in 2023.

Weather

Clear521 (74.3%)
13.8%prior 458
Cloudy75 (10.7%)
27.1%prior 59
Rain58 (8.3%)
38.1%prior 42
Cloudy/Rain16 (2.3%)
23.1%prior 13
Snow9 (1.3%)
-47.1%prior 17
Rain/Cloudy5 (0.7%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (0.4%)
Snow/Cloudy3 (0.4%)
Rain/Snow2 (0.3%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (0.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight519 (74.0%)
15.1%prior 451
Dark - lighted roadway112 (16.0%)
-4.3%prior 117
Dark - roadway not lighted37 (5.3%)
32.1%prior 28
Dusk21 (3.0%)
16.7%prior 18
Dawn10 (1.4%)
0.0%prior 10
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.3%)

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

Road Surface

Dry569 (81.2%)
11.6%prior 510
Wet117 (16.7%)
39.3%prior 84
Snow8 (1.1%)
-52.9%prior 17
Ice5 (0.7%)
-58.3%prior 12
Slush2 (0.3%)

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 collisions were Toyota, Honda, and Ford in both 2022 and 2023. The count of Toyotas involved in crashes increased from 199 to 254, and Hondas increased from 164 to 218. Analysis of persons involved shows the 26-34 age group remained the largest cohort, while the share of persons aged 16-20 increased from 9.5% in 2022 to 12.3% in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,329 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA254 (19.1%)
27.6%prior 199
2
HONDA218 (16.4%)
32.9%prior 164
3
FORD134 (10.1%)
0.0%prior 134
4
NISSAN71 (5.3%)
12.7%prior 63
5
CHEVROLET67 (5%)
11.7%prior 60
6
JEEP66 (5%)
1.5%prior 65
7
SUBARU63 (4.7%)
5.0%prior 60
8
HYUNDAI41 (3.1%)
24.2%prior 33
9
MAZDA38 (2.9%)
137.5%prior 16
10
BMW30 (2.3%)
-3.2%prior 31

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

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

Sex Distribution (1,542 persons with recorded sex)

Male817 (53.0%)
14.6%prior 713
Female725 (47.0%)
19.4%prior 607

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 were most frequent in 30 mph and 35 mph zones in both periods. There was a notable increase in crashes within 35 mph zones, rising from 155 incidents in 2022 to 211 in 2023. The single fatal crash recorded in 2022 occurred in a 35 mph zone; no fatalities 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: NATICK, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 701
  • Total persons involved: 1,614
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,329

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). "NATICK, 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/natick/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

Natick, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com