Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

33 CRASHES IN
NORTON, MA
DECEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2022

In December 2023, NORTON experienced 33 crashes, an increase from 28 crashes in December 2022, representing a 17.86% rise. Concurrently, total injuries rose by 66.67%, from 6 in the prior year to 10 in the current period. This indicates a notable increase in crash frequency and injury severity year-over-year.

33

17.9%was 28

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

66.7%was 6

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 3

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for NORTON shows an upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 17.86%, from 28 in December 2022 to 33 in December 2023. This was accompanied by a 66.67% rise in total injuries, from 6 to 10, indicating a worsening safety trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

9

Motorists Injured

Prior: 580.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Friday with 6 crashes in December 2022 to Wednesday with 8 crashes in December 2023. The peak hour also shifted slightly, from 6 PM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 5 PM with 7 crashes in the current period. Notably, Tuesday and Wednesday saw a combined increase from 8 crashes in December 2022 to 16 crashes in December 2023, suggesting a shift in crash concentration towards mid-week.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero for both December 2022 and December 2023. The distribution of injury severities changed, with serious injuries remaining at 1 for both periods. Minor injuries decreased from 4 (14.3% of crashes) to 3 (9.1%), while possible injuries significantly increased from 1 (3.6%) to 6 (18.2%). Crashes resulting in no injury decreased in proportion from 78.6% to 66.7%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes3%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes9.1%
-25.0%prior 4
Possible Injury6possible injury crashes18.2%
500.0%prior 1
No Injury22no injury crashes66.7%
0.0%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased from 10 in December 2022 to 6 in December 2023. 'Inattention' remained consistent with 5 crashes in both periods, while 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased from 4 to 1. Conversely, 'Other improper action' crashes increased from 1 to 3, and factors like 'Visibility obstructed' (2 crashes), 'Driving too fast for conditions' (1 crash), and 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' (1 crash) appeared in December 2023 but were not present in December 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (18.2%)-40.0%prior 10
Inattention5 (15.2%)0.0%prior 5
Other improper action3 (9.1%)
Followed too closely2 (6.1%)
Visibility obstructed2 (6.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (3%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (3%)
Distracted1 (3%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (3%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 19 in December 2022 to 23 in December 2023, while crashes in rainy conditions decreased from 6 to 2. Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 18 to 24, and those on wet surfaces decreased from 8 to 6. Regarding lighting, crashes in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions doubled from 3 to 6, and crashes during 'Dawn' increased from 0 to 2.

Weather

Clear23 (74.2%)
21.1%prior 19
Cloudy5 (16.1%)
Rain2 (6.5%)
-66.7%prior 6
Fog, smog, smoke1 (3.2%)

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

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway13 (40.6%)
-7.1%prior 14
Daylight10 (31.3%)
0.0%prior 10
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (18.8%)
Dawn2 (6.3%)
Dusk1 (3.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry24 (75.0%)
33.3%prior 18
Wet6 (18.8%)
-25.0%prior 8
Ice1 (3.1%)
Other1 (3.1%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (55 vehicles)

1
NISSAN7 (12.7%)
2
HONDA6 (10.9%)
20.0%prior 5
3
TOYOTA6 (10.9%)
-14.3%prior 7
4
FORD6 (10.9%)
5
KIA5 (9.1%)
6
HYUNDAI3 (5.5%)
7
KENWORTH2 (3.6%)
8
AUDI2 (3.6%)
9
CHEVROLET2 (3.6%)
10
DODGE2 (3.6%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (60 persons with recorded sex)

Male40 (66.7%)
53.8%prior 26
Female20 (33.3%)
-9.1%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes occurred in any speed zone during either period. Crashes in the 35 mph speed zone decreased from 7 in December 2022 to 2 in December 2023. Conversely, crashes in the 65 mph speed zone increased from 3 to 5, and crashes in the 30 mph and 40 mph zones each saw a slight increase of 1, from 10 to 11 and 8 to 9 respectively. New crash occurrences were observed in the 5 mph, 15 mph, and 45 mph speed zones in December 2023, which had no recorded crashes in December 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 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: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: NORTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 33
  • Total persons involved: 66
  • Total vehicles involved: 55

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). "NORTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/norton/december-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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Norton, MA Crash Report — December 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com