Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

284 CRASHES IN
PLAINVILLE, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Plainville, total traffic crashes increased by 29.7%, from 219 incidents in 2022 to 284 in 2023. This rise was accompanied by a 48.3% increase in persons injured, from 58 to 86, and a doubling of fatalities from one to two. The most significant proportional change was a 180% increase in hit-and-run crashes, which grew from 5 to 14 incidents year-over-year.

284

29.7%was 219

Total Crash Events

2

100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

86

48.3%was 58

Persons Injured

14

180.0%was 5

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 5 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

Crash data for Plainville shows a clear upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 29.7%, from 219 in 2022 to 284 in 2023. This increase was reflected across injury metrics, with total injuries climbing 48.3% from 58 to 86 and fatalities increasing from one to two.

14

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

180.0% vs prior (5)

Hit-and-run incidents showed a significant upward trend. The number of hit-and-run crashes increased by 180%, from 5 in 2022 to 14 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate more than doubled, climbing from 2.3% of all crashes in the prior year to 4.9% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 10.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

83

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5843.1%

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 timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak day for crashes was Monday with 47 incidents, changing from Thursday (42 crashes) in 2022. Similarly, the peak hour for collisions moved later in the day, from the 12 p.m. hour in 2022 (25 crashes) to the 4 p.m. hour in 2023 (29 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

Crashes in 2023 were more likely to result in injury compared to the prior year. The proportion of crashes involving an injury of any severity increased from 20.5% in 2022 to 23.9% in 2023. The number of fatal crashes doubled from one to two, raising the fatal crash rate from 0.46% to 0.70%. The count of serious injury crashes also increased from three to five.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes0.7%
100.0%prior 1
Serious Injury5serious injury crashes1.8%
66.7%prior 3
Minor Injury28minor injury crashes9.9%
64.7%prior 17
Possible Injury33possible injury crashes11.6%
37.5%prior 24
No Injury211no injury crashes74.3%
22.0%prior 173

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 top three contributing factors remained consistent across both years: 'Inattention,' 'No improper driving,' and 'Failed to yield right of way.' However, the count of crashes attributed to specific factors saw significant shifts. Collisions involving 'Followed too closely' more than doubled, increasing by 107% from 14 to 29 incidents. The count of crashes where a driver 'Failed to yield right of way' rose by 25.6% from 39 to 49, while crashes attributed to 'Inattention' saw a slight decrease in count from 59 to 57.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving57 (20.1%)21.3%prior 47
Inattention57 (20.1%)-3.4%prior 59
Failed to yield right of way49 (17.3%)25.6%prior 39
Followed too closely29 (10.2%)107.1%prior 14
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road11 (3.9%)37.5%prior 8
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings11 (3.9%)
Made an improper turn9 (3.2%)
Distracted7 (2.5%)40.0%prior 5
Other improper action7 (2.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions7 (2.5%)

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

Driving conditions for crashes remained broadly similar year-over-year, with most incidents in both periods occurring on dry roads in clear weather. In 2023, 79.9% of crashes happened on dry surfaces, compared to 80.4% in 2022. There was a notable shift in lighting conditions, as the proportion of crashes occurring in daylight increased from 73.1% in 2022 to 80.3% in 2023, while the share of crashes in dark conditions decreased.

Weather

Clear112 (41.3%)
80.6%prior 62
Clear/Clear90 (33.2%)
-11.8%prior 102
Cloudy16 (5.9%)
77.8%prior 9
Rain10 (3.7%)
-23.1%prior 13
Cloudy/Cloudy10 (3.7%)
25.0%prior 8
Rain/Rain9 (3.3%)
Clear/Cloudy6 (2.2%)
Cloudy/Rain6 (2.2%)
20.0%prior 5
Cloudy/Clear3 (1.1%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (1.1%)
-50.0%prior 6

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

Lighting

Daylight228 (80.3%)
42.5%prior 160
Dark - lighted roadway32 (11.3%)
14.3%prior 28
Dark - roadway not lighted11 (3.9%)
-8.3%prior 12
Dusk10 (3.5%)
-9.1%prior 11
Dawn3 (1.1%)
-50.0%prior 6

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

Road Surface

Dry227 (83.8%)
29.0%prior 176
Wet41 (15.1%)
17.1%prior 35
Ice2 (0.7%)
Snow1 (0.4%)
-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

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes—Toyota, Ford, and Honda—maintained their rankings in 2023, with the count for each increasing in line with the overall rise in collisions. Analysis of persons involved shows the 26-34 age group was the most represented in both years, with its count increasing from 79 to 112. Notably, the 65+ age group's involvement grew, moving from the sixth most-represented group in 2022 (64 persons) to the third in 2023 (87 persons).

Top Vehicle Makes (535 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA91 (17%)
30.0%prior 70
2
FORD65 (12.1%)
35.4%prior 48
3
HONDA53 (9.9%)
55.9%prior 34
4
CHEVROLET41 (7.7%)
127.8%prior 18
5
NISSAN36 (6.7%)
38.5%prior 26
6
JEEP32 (6%)
0.0%prior 32
7
HYUNDAI28 (5.2%)
40.0%prior 20
8
KIA21 (3.9%)
90.9%prior 11
9
SUBARU17 (3.2%)
21.4%prior 14
10
BMW14 (2.6%)
40.0%prior 10

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

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

Sex Distribution (626 persons with recorded sex)

Male319 (51.0%)
26.1%prior 253
Female307 (49.0%)
34.1%prior 229

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

Crash distribution across speed zones remained consistent, with the 30 mph, 40 mph, and 35 mph zones seeing the highest number of incidents in both 2022 and 2023. While the single fatal crash in 2022 occurred in a 65 mph zone, 2023 saw two fatal crashes: one in a 65 mph zone and another in a 40 mph zone. The fatal crash rate within the 65 mph zone decreased from 5.6% to 3.1% year-over-year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 40 mph: 1 of 42 (2.381%) · 65 mph: 1 of 32 (3.125%)

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: PLAINVILLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 284
  • Total persons involved: 656
  • Total vehicles involved: 535

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). "PLAINVILLE, 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/plainville/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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Plainville, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com