Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

77 CRASHES IN
PEABODY, MA
FEBRUARY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2022

In February 2023, Peabody experienced 77 total crashes, a decrease of 20.6% compared to the 97 crashes recorded in February 2022. A significant positive shift was observed in crash fatalities, which dropped from 1 in the prior year to 0 in the current period.

77

-20.6%was 97

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

8

-70.4%was 27

Persons Injured

6

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Peabody showed a downward trend year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing from 97 in February 2022 to 77 in February 2023. This represents a 20.6% reduction in the total number of reported crashes.

6

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2023

50.0% vs prior (4)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 4 in February 2022 to 6 in February 2023. This resulted in an increase in the hit-and-run crash rate from 4.1% to 7.8% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 26-69.2%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year; the peak day for crashes moved from Friday in February 2022 (19 crashes) to Thursday in February 2023 (18 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes changed from 2 PM (14 crashes) in the prior period to 4 PM (10 crashes) in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes decreased from 1 in February 2022 to 0 in February 2023, representing a significant improvement in crash outcomes. The total number of injured persons also saw a substantial reduction, falling from 27 in the prior period to 8 in the current period, with the proportion of injury-involved crashes decreasing from 21.6% to 9.1%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.3%
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes2.6%
-84.6%prior 13
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes5.2%
-50.0%prior 8
No Injury66no injury crashes85.7%
-7.0%prior 71

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw notable changes in crash counts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' decreased significantly from 17 in February 2022 to 4 in February 2023, while 'No improper driving' also saw a reduction from 28 to 20 crashes. Conversely, crashes involving 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' increased from 1 to 5 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving20 (26%)-28.6%prior 28
Inattention12 (15.6%)-36.8%prior 19
Failed to yield right of way7 (9.1%)0.0%prior 7
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner5 (6.5%)
Followed too closely4 (5.2%)-76.5%prior 17
Distracted3 (3.9%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (2.6%)
Other improper action2 (2.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (2.6%)
Visibility obstructed1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring in adverse road conditions decreased, with incidents on wet roads falling from 15 to 7, on snow from 10 to 5, and on ice from 11 to 3. Crashes in daylight conditions also decreased from 64 to 46, while those in dusk conditions increased from 1 to 5.

Weather

Clear53 (70.7%)
0.0%prior 53
Cloudy9 (12.0%)
-30.8%prior 13
Snow7 (9.3%)
-12.5%prior 8
Clear/Cloudy2 (2.7%)
-66.7%prior 6
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Snow1 (1.3%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Rain1 (1.3%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (1.3%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight46 (61.3%)
-28.1%prior 64
Dark - lighted roadway19 (25.3%)
-38.7%prior 31
Dusk5 (6.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (4.0%)
Dawn1 (1.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry59 (78.7%)
-1.7%prior 60
Wet7 (9.3%)
-53.3%prior 15
Snow5 (6.7%)
-50.0%prior 10
Ice3 (4.0%)
-72.7%prior 11
Slush1 (1.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 196 to 145 year-over-year. Among vehicle makes, Toyota and Ford saw notable decreases in involvement, while BMW involvement increased from 2 to 8. The age distribution of persons involved in crashes showed a decrease in the 65+ age group from 26 to 8, and an increase in the 0-15 age group from 6 to 11.

Top Vehicle Makes (145 vehicles)

1
HONDA23 (15.9%)
4.5%prior 22
2
TOYOTA21 (14.5%)
-46.2%prior 39
3
NISSAN10 (6.9%)
-23.1%prior 13
4
JEEP10 (6.9%)
-33.3%prior 15
5
FORD9 (6.2%)
-60.9%prior 23
6
BMW8 (5.5%)
7
KIA7 (4.8%)
16.7%prior 6
8
ACURA6 (4.1%)
9
CHEVROLET6 (4.1%)
-60.0%prior 15
10
HYUNDAI6 (4.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (152 persons with recorded sex)

Male85 (55.9%)
-26.7%prior 116
Female67 (44.1%)
-28.0%prior 93

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 50 mph speed zones increased significantly from 3 in February 2022 to 12 in February 2023, and 35 mph zones also saw an increase from 3 to 8 crashes. Conversely, crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 24 to 17, and in 55 mph zones from 14 to 7. The single fatal crash in the prior period occurred in a 25 mph zone, which had no fatal crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28 · 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: 2023-02-01 through 2023-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-02-01 through 2023-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: PEABODY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 77
  • Total persons involved: 170
  • Total vehicles involved: 145

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). "PEABODY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2023-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/peabody/february-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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Peabody, MA Crash Report — February 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com