Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

13 CRASHES IN
PHILLIPSTON, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Phillipston recorded 13 total vehicle crashes, a 31.6% decrease from the 19 crashes reported in 2022. The most significant year-over-year change was the reduction in fatalities, with zero deaths in 2023 compared to one death in the prior year. While total crashes and fatalities decreased, the number of reported injuries increased from four in 2022 to five in 2023.

13

-31.6%was 19

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

5

25.0%was 4

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

Fatal Crash Events

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 · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, traffic crashes in Phillipston showed a downward trend year-over-year. The total number of incidents fell by 6, from 19 in 2022 to 13 in 2023. This represents a 31.6% reduction in total crash events.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 425.0%

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 shifted between the two years. In 2022, the peak days for crashes were Monday and Friday, each with 4 incidents, while in 2023, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday shared the peak with 3 crashes each. The peak hour also moved from a distinct peak at 10 a.m. in 2022 (3 crashes) to multiple smaller peaks in 2023, where five different hours each recorded 2 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 improved in 2023, with zero fatal crashes recorded compared to one in 2022. Although the absolute number of persons injured increased slightly from 4 to 5, the proportion of crashes involving an injury rose more significantly, from 21.1% of all crashes in 2022 to 38.5% in 2023. Correspondingly, the share of 'No Injury' crashes decreased from 73.7% in 2022 to 61.5% in 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury5minor injury crashes38.5%
66.7%prior 3
No Injury8no injury crashes61.5%
-42.9%prior 14

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 primary contributing factors for crashes changed notably year-over-year. In 2022, 'Driving too fast for conditions' was the leading factor, cited in 6 crashes, but this factor was not recorded for any crash in 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Fatigued/asleep' increased from a count of one to two. The count of crashes with 'No improper driving' as a factor remained stable, increasing by one from 5 in 2022 to 6 in 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (46.2%)20.0%prior 5
Fatigued/asleep2 (15.4%)
Inattention2 (15.4%)

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

There was a significant shift in the conditions under which crashes occurred. In 2023, 84.6% of crashes happened in clear weather, a sharp increase from 36.8% in 2022. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces accounted for 84.6% of the total in 2023, compared to 47.4% in the prior year. The proportion of crashes occurring in darkness remained relatively stable, accounting for 46.2% of crashes in 2023 versus 42.1% in 2022.

Weather

Clear11 (91.7%)
57.1%prior 7
Snow1 (8.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight6 (46.2%)
-40.0%prior 10
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (38.5%)
-37.5%prior 8
Dark - lighted roadway1 (7.7%)
Dawn1 (7.7%)

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

Road Surface

Dry11 (84.6%)
22.2%prior 9
Snow1 (7.7%)
Wet1 (7.7%)
-83.3%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

Top Vehicle Makes (19 vehicles)

1
FORD3 (15.8%)
2
JEEP3 (15.8%)
3
CHEVROLET2 (10.5%)
-66.7%prior 6
4
TOYOTA2 (10.5%)
-71.4%prior 7
5
HONDA2 (10.5%)
6
NISSAN1 (5.3%)
7
AUDI1 (5.3%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN1 (5.3%)
9
BMW1 (5.3%)
10
DODGE1 (5.3%)

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

Sex Distribution (18 persons with recorded sex)

Male11 (61.1%)
-50.0%prior 22
Female7 (38.9%)
-53.3%prior 15

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 different speed zones remained largely consistent year-over-year. In both periods, the majority of incidents occurred in 55 mph zones, which accounted for 10 of 13 crashes (76.9%) in 2023 and 14 of 19 crashes (73.7%) in 2022. There were no significant shifts in crashes towards higher or lower speed zones. No fatalities were recorded within specific speed zones in the data for either year.

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: PHILLIPSTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 13
  • Total persons involved: 20
  • Total vehicles involved: 19

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). "PHILLIPSTON, 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/phillipston/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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Phillipston, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com