Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

209 CRASHES IN
NORTHBRIDGE, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Northbridge recorded 209 total vehicle crashes, a 5.4% decrease from the 221 crashes reported in 2022. While overall incidents and injuries declined, the number of hit-and-run crashes increased significantly, rising from 1 in the prior year to 12 in the current year. There were no fatal crashes recorded in either period.

209

-5.4%was 221

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

55

-11.3%was 62

Persons Injured

12

1100.0%was 1

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. 9 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 crashes in Northbridge showed a downward trend from 2022 to 2023. The total number of crashes decreased from 221 to 209, and the number of reported injuries also fell from 62 to 55. Fatalities remained at zero for both years.

12

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

1100.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run incidents saw a substantial increase in 2023 compared to the previous year. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose from just 1 in 2022 to 12 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate increased more than tenfold, from 0.5% of all crashes in 2022 to 5.7% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 30.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

51

Motorists Injured

Prior: 59-13.6%

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 in Northbridge shifted between 2022 and 2023. The peak day for crashes moved from Thursday in 2022 (46 incidents) to Monday in 2023 (46 incidents). The peak hour of day for collisions also shifted two hours earlier, from 5 PM in the prior year (17 crashes) to 3 PM in the current year (21 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 remained relatively stable year-over-year, with zero fatal crashes recorded in either 2022 or 2023. The number of serious injury crashes was unchanged at 3 for both periods. The proportion of minor injury crashes saw a slight increase from 14.9% of all crashes in 2022 to 16.7% in 2023, while the count of possible injury crashes decreased from 12 to 8.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury3serious injury crashes1.4%
0.0%prior 3
Minor Injury35minor injury crashes16.7%
6.1%prior 33
Possible Injury8possible injury crashes3.8%
-33.3%prior 12
No Injury154no injury crashes73.7%
-3.1%prior 159

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 remained consistent, with 'No improper driving' and 'Inattention' being the top two in both years. However, the count of crashes attributed to 'Inattention' decreased by 26.3%, from 38 incidents in 2022 to 28 in 2023. Conversely, crashes involving an 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' increased in count from 11 to 15 over the same period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving77 (36.8%)-9.4%prior 85
Inattention28 (13.4%)-26.3%prior 38
Failed to yield right of way15 (7.2%)7.1%prior 14
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner15 (7.2%)36.4%prior 11
Other improper action7 (3.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (3.3%)0.0%prior 7
Over-correcting/over-steering4 (1.9%)
Distracted4 (1.9%)-20.0%prior 5
Physical impairment3 (1.4%)
Driving too fast for conditions3 (1.4%)

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

In both 2022 and 2023, the majority of crashes occurred in clear weather on dry roads during daylight hours. However, there was a notable increase in crashes on dark, unlighted roadways, which rose from 4 incidents in 2022 to 13 in 2023. Crashes on wet road surfaces also increased from 25 to 35, while crashes occurring in snow conditions decreased from 12 to 4.

Weather

Clear163 (78.7%)
-5.2%prior 172
Rain17 (8.2%)
54.5%prior 11
Cloudy9 (4.3%)
-52.6%prior 19
Cloudy/Rain4 (1.9%)
Snow4 (1.9%)
-66.7%prior 12
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.0%)
Fog, smog, smoke2 (1.0%)
Unknown/Clear1 (0.5%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.5%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (0.5%)

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

Lighting

Daylight131 (63.3%)
-9.7%prior 145
Dark - lighted roadway56 (27.1%)
3.7%prior 54
Dark - roadway not lighted13 (6.3%)
Dusk5 (2.4%)
-44.4%prior 9
Dawn2 (1.0%)
-60.0%prior 5

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

Road Surface

Dry164 (79.6%)
-6.8%prior 176
Wet35 (17.0%)
40.0%prior 25
Snow4 (1.9%)
-71.4%prior 14
Ice3 (1.5%)
-50.0%prior 6

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 crashes remained Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet, though their order shifted, with Ford becoming the most frequent in 2023 (48 vehicles) after being second in 2022 (61 vehicles). Regarding person demographics, the 16-20 age group was the most represented in 2023 with 59 individuals involved, down from 65 in 2022. The 26-34 age group saw a notable decrease in involvement, from 68 persons in 2022 to 56 in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (340 vehicles)

1
FORD48 (14.1%)
-21.3%prior 61
2
TOYOTA46 (13.5%)
-28.1%prior 64
3
CHEVROLET33 (9.7%)
-13.2%prior 38
4
NISSAN30 (8.8%)
25.0%prior 24
5
JEEP26 (7.6%)
4.0%prior 25
6
HONDA24 (7.1%)
-27.3%prior 33
7
HYUNDAI12 (3.5%)
9.1%prior 11
8
GMC12 (3.5%)
20.0%prior 10
9
SUBARU11 (3.2%)
0.0%prior 11
10
DODGE10 (2.9%)
-16.7%prior 12

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

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

Sex Distribution (379 persons with recorded sex)

Male217 (57.3%)
1.9%prior 213
Female162 (42.7%)
-18.2%prior 198

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 remained largely consistent between the two years, with no fatal crashes recorded in any zone for either period. The 30 mph zone saw the highest number of crashes in both 2022 (79 crashes) and 2023 (72 crashes). Crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 49 to 56, while those in 35 mph zones rose from 46 to 53.

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: NORTHBRIDGE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 209
  • Total persons involved: 422
  • Total vehicles involved: 340

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). "NORTHBRIDGE, 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/northbridge/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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Northbridge, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com