ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · NEEDHAM, MA · OCTOBER 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/needham/october-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
48 CRASHES IN
NEEDHAM, MA
OCTOBER 2023
In October 2023, Needham experienced 48 crashes, a decrease of 7.7% compared to the 52 crashes recorded in October 2022. A significant year-over-year shift was the absence of fatalities in October 2023, down from one fatality in the prior year.
48
▼ -7.7%was 52
Total Crash Events
0
▼ -100.0%was 1
Persons Killed
12
▲ 9.1%was 11
Persons Injured
2
▼ -50.0%was 4
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.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, the trend for total crashes in Needham shows a decrease, with 48 crashes in October 2023 compared to 52 in October 2022, representing a 7.7% reduction. While total injuries saw a slight increase from 11 to 12, a positive trend was observed in fatalities, which dropped from one in October 2022 to zero in October 2023.
2
Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023
▼ -50.0% vs prior (4)
The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased by 50%, from 4 incidents in October 2022 to 2 incidents in October 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also saw a positive trend, falling from 7.7% of all crashes in the prior period to 4.2% in the current period.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
0
Motorists Killed
2
Pedestrians Injured
1
Cyclists Injured
9
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
Temporal patterns show a shift in peak crash activity year-over-year. In October 2023, Friday became the peak day with 11 crashes, whereas October 2022 saw peak activity on Monday and Wednesday with 13 crashes each. The peak hour for crashes also shifted from 3 PM (8 crashes) in October 2022 to 8 AM (7 crashes) in October 2023, indicating a change in the timing of highest crash frequency.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The severity distribution of crashes saw notable changes, with no fatal crashes reported in October 2023 compared to one fatal crash in October 2022. While total injuries increased slightly from 11 to 12, the number of minor injuries rose from 3 to 6, and possible injuries decreased from 6 to 5. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury remained relatively stable, accounting for 77.1% in the current period versus 73.1% in the prior period.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Analysis of contributing factors reveals significant shifts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased substantially from 5 in October 2022 to 13 in October 2023, a 160% rise, making it the top factor. Conversely, 'Inattention' decreased by 25%, from 8 crashes to 6 crashes, dropping from the primary factor to fourth. 'Failed to yield right of way' and 'Followed too closely' also saw increases, with counts rising from 6 to 9 and 4 to 7, respectively.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crash conditions show a shift towards drier and clearer circumstances in October 2023. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 38 to 43, while those on wet surfaces decreased from 13 to 5. Similarly, crashes during clear weather increased from 27 to 37, with crashes during rainy conditions decreasing from 5 to 2, indicating a reduction in adverse weather-related incidents.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Regarding vehicle involvement, Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, increasing from 10 vehicles in October 2022 to 16 in October 2023, while Honda maintained 8 vehicles and Ford decreased from 8 to 7. Significant shifts in the age distribution of persons involved in crashes were observed, with the 45-54 age group seeing a rise from 10 to 20 persons, and the 65+ age group experiencing a notable decrease from 20 to 10 persons.
Top Vehicle Makes (91 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records
6 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (105 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crash distribution across speed zones showed some changes year-over-year. The 30 mph zone, which was the most frequent crash location, saw a slight decrease from 34 crashes in October 2022 to 31 crashes in October 2023. Notably, crashes in the 35 mph zone increased from 2 to 5, and in the 25 mph zone from 2 to 4. There were no fatalities recorded in any speed zone in October 2023, compared to one fatality in the 30 mph zone in October 2022.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: NEEDHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 48
- Total persons involved: 111
- Total vehicles involved: 91
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). "NEEDHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/needham/october-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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-10-01 – 2023-10-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved