Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

22 CRASHES IN
PLAINVILLE, MA
MARCH 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2022

PLAINVILLE experienced a significant increase in crash activity in March 2023 compared to March 2022, with total crashes rising from 13 to 22, an increase of 69.23%. The most notable shift was the occurrence of one fatality in March 2023, whereas no fatalities were reported in March 2022.

22

69.2%was 13

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

10

150.0%was 4

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend for crashes in PLAINVILLE is upward year-over-year. Total crashes increased from 13 in March 2022 to 22 in March 2023, marking a 69.23% rise in crash incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 00.0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4150.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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 year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday in March 2022, which had 3 crashes, to Thursday in March 2023, which recorded 7 crashes. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 8a with 3 crashes in the prior period to 11a with 3 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity distribution of crashes changed significantly, with the fatal crash rate increasing from 0% in March 2022 to 4.5% in March 2023 due to one fatal crash. Crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) increased from 3 in March 2022 to 9 in March 2023, causing their proportion of total crashes to rise from 23.1% to 40.9%. Conversely, the proportion of 'No Injury' crashes decreased from 76.9% to 50% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes4.5%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 1
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes31.8%
600.0%prior 1
No Injury11no injury crashes50%
10.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Inattention remained the most frequently cited contributing factor, increasing from 5 crashes in March 2022 to 6 crashes in March 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' increased from 1 to 3, while 'Failed to yield right of way' increased from 1 to 2. 'No improper driving' decreased by 1 crash, from 3 in the prior period to 2 in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention6 (27.3%)20.0%prior 5
Followed too closely3 (13.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (9.1%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (9.1%)
Distracted2 (9.1%)
No improper driving2 (9.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (4.5%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (4.5%)
Made an improper turn1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 10 in March 2022 to 20 in March 2023, while crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 3 to 2. The proportion of crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 15.4% (2 out of 13 crashes) in the prior period to 27.3% (6 out of 22 crashes) in the current period.

Weather

Clear/Clear11 (50.0%)
57.1%prior 7
Clear6 (27.3%)
Cloudy2 (9.1%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (4.5%)
Rain1 (4.5%)
Rain/Rain1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight16 (72.7%)
60.0%prior 10
Dark - lighted roadway6 (27.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry20 (90.9%)
100.0%prior 10
Wet2 (9.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (42 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA9 (21.4%)
2
FORD7 (16.7%)
3
HONDA5 (11.9%)
4
NISSAN5 (11.9%)
5
CHEVROLET4 (9.5%)
6
JEEP4 (9.5%)
7
VOLKSWAGEN1 (2.4%)
8
BAND1 (2.4%)
9
VOLVO1 (2.4%)
10
CADI1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (50 persons with recorded sex)

Male32 (64.0%)
113.3%prior 15
Female18 (36.0%)
63.6%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The number of crashes occurring in 40 mph speed zones remained constant at 4 crashes in both periods, but a fatal crash was reported in this zone in March 2023, increasing its fatal rate from 0% to 25%. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 5 to 3, while those in 55 mph zones increased from 2 to 3. Additionally, new crash occurrences were noted in 10, 25, 35, 50, and 65 mph speed zones in March 2023, which had no reported crashes in March 2022.

Fatal crashes by zone: 40 mph: 1 of 4 (25%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: PLAINVILLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 22
  • Total persons involved: 53
  • Total vehicles involved: 42

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: March 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/plainville/march-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Plainville, MA Crash Report — March 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com