Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

145 CRASHES IN
NEWTON, MA
MAY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2022

In May 2023, Newton experienced 145 total crashes, a slight increase of 2.83% from the 141 crashes reported in May 2022. There were no fatalities in either period. The most notable year-over-year shift was a significant 39.13% decrease in total injuries, falling from 46 in May 2022 to 28 in May 2023.

145

2.8%was 141

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

28

-39.1%was 46

Persons Injured

20

-16.7%was 24

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. 6 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the number of crashes in Newton saw a slight increase of 2.83%, rising from 141 crashes in May 2022 to 145 crashes in May 2023. Despite this increase in crash volume, total injuries decreased significantly by 39.13%, from 46 to 28. Fatalities remained stable at zero in both periods.

20

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2023

-16.7% vs prior (24)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 24 in May 2022 to 20 in May 2023, representing a decrease of 4 crashes. The hit-and-run rate also declined, from 17% of all crashes in May 2022 to 13.8% in May 2023, indicating a downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 1200.0%

25

Motorists Injured

Prior: 45-44.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Tuesday in both periods, with counts increasing from 26 in May 2022 to 30 in May 2023. The peak hour also remained 3 PM, though the number of crashes during this hour slightly decreased from 15 to 14. Crashes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday increased year-over-year, while Sunday and Thursday saw decreases.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either period. The total number of injuries decreased from 46 in May 2022 to 28 in May 2023, representing a 39.13% reduction. The proportion of crashes resulting in 'No Injury' increased from 74.5% to 80.7%, while 'Possible Injury' crashes decreased from 9.9% to 4.8% of the total crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.7%
Minor Injury14minor injury crashes9.7%
0.0%prior 14
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes4.8%
-50.0%prior 14
No Injury117no injury crashes80.7%
11.4%prior 105

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving', decreased by 8 crashes (21.1%), from 38 to 30. 'Inattention' crashes increased by 6 (28.6%), from 21 to 27, becoming the second most frequent factor. Crashes attributed to 'Made an improper turn' saw a 250% increase in count, rising from 2 to 7 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving30 (20.7%)-21.1%prior 38
Inattention27 (18.6%)28.6%prior 21
Followed too closely18 (12.4%)-14.3%prior 21
Failed to yield right of way11 (7.6%)0.0%prior 11
Made an improper turn7 (4.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (2.1%)-40.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (2.1%)
Fatigued/asleep3 (2.1%)
Other improper action3 (2.1%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (1.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

In both periods, 'Clear' weather, 'Daylight' lighting, and 'Dry' road surfaces were the predominant conditions for crashes. Crashes occurring in 'Wet' road surface conditions increased from 9 in May 2022 to 17 in May 2023. Crashes during 'Rain' also increased from 6 to 9.

Weather

Clear111 (77.1%)
-1.8%prior 113
Clear/Clear10 (6.9%)
25.0%prior 8
Rain9 (6.3%)
50.0%prior 6
Cloudy7 (4.9%)
-36.4%prior 11
Cloudy/Rain3 (2.1%)
Unknown/Unknown1 (0.7%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (0.7%)
Rain/Rain1 (0.7%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight112 (78.3%)
-5.1%prior 118
Dark - lighted roadway18 (12.6%)
12.5%prior 16
Dawn5 (3.5%)
Dusk5 (3.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (1.4%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry124 (86.7%)
-4.6%prior 130
Wet17 (11.9%)
88.9%prior 9
Other1 (0.7%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased by 11 (3.9%), from 283 in May 2022 to 272 in May 2023. Toyota, Honda, and Ford remained the top three vehicle makes involved, though their individual counts decreased. Notably, crashes involving Subaru vehicles increased from 9 to 16, and Audi vehicles increased from 6 to 14.

Top Vehicle Makes (272 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA44 (16.2%)
-17.0%prior 53
2
HONDA28 (10.3%)
-17.6%prior 34
3
FORD26 (9.6%)
-3.7%prior 27
4
NISSAN19 (7%)
11.8%prior 17
5
SUBARU16 (5.9%)
77.8%prior 9
6
JEEP14 (5.1%)
-6.7%prior 15
7
CHEVROLET14 (5.1%)
-22.2%prior 18
8
AUDI14 (5.1%)
133.3%prior 6
9
BMW9 (3.3%)
28.6%prior 7
10
MERCEDES-BENZ8 (2.9%)
-20.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (303 persons with recorded sex)

Male175 (57.8%)
-2.2%prior 179
Female128 (42.2%)
-22.4%prior 165

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The 25 mph speed limit zone continued to have the highest number of crashes, with 69 incidents in both May 2022 and May 2023. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 27 to 24. Conversely, crashes occurring in 55 mph zones increased from 17 to 22.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: NEWTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 145
  • Total persons involved: 395
  • Total vehicles involved: 272

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). "NEWTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/newton/may-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

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Newton, MA Crash Report — May 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com