Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

18 CRASHES IN
PLAINVILLE, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

In October 2023, Plainville experienced 18 total crashes, an 18.2% decrease from the 22 crashes recorded in October 2022. Despite the overall reduction in crashes, hit-and-run incidents saw a significant increase, rising from 1 in the prior period to 3 in the current period.

18

-18.2%was 22

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

10

11.1%was 9

Persons Injured

3

200.0%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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for crashes in Plainville for October shows a decrease, with total crashes falling by 18.2% from 22 in October 2022 to 18 in October 2023. While total fatalities remained stable at 1 in both periods, total injuries slightly increased from 9 to 10.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023

200.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes saw a significant increase, rising from 1 incident in October 2022 to 3 incidents in October 2023. This change led to the hit-and-run rate more than tripling, from 4.5% in the prior period to 16.7% in the current period, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

9

Motorists Injured

Prior: 90.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns for crashes show some shifts between the two periods. In October 2023, Tuesday was the peak day with 6 crashes, while in October 2022, both Saturday and Tuesday had 5 crashes each. The peak crash hour remained consistent at 1 PM in both periods, though the crash count for this hour decreased from 4 in the prior period to 3 in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The fatal crash count remained at 1 in both periods, but the fatal rate increased from 4.5% in October 2022 to 5.6% in October 2023 due to fewer total crashes. Minor injury crashes remained at 3 in both periods, and their proportion slightly increased from 13.6% to 16.7%. Possible injury crashes decreased from 4 to 3, and their proportion decreased from 18.2% to 16.7%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes5.6%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes16.7%
0.0%prior 3
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes16.7%
-25.0%prior 4
No Injury11no injury crashes61.1%
-15.4%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Contributing factors saw notable changes; 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased from 8 to 2, a reduction of 6 crashes, and 'No improper driving' crashes decreased from 7 to 3, a reduction of 4 crashes. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' became the top factor in October 2023 with 4 crashes (22.2% share), and 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' emerged with 2 crashes, neither being a top factor in the prior period. 'Inattention' crashes remained stable at 3 in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely4 (22.2%)
Inattention3 (16.7%)
No improper driving3 (16.7%)-57.1%prior 7
Failed to yield right of way2 (11.1%)-75.0%prior 8
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (11.1%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5.6%)
Glare1 (5.6%)
Made an improper turn1 (5.6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces significantly decreased from 7 in October 2022 to 2 in October 2023. 'Daylight' crashes also decreased from 14 to 12. There was an increase in crashes under 'Clear' weather conditions from 3 to 11, while crashes under 'Clear/Clear' conditions decreased from 9 to 2.

Weather

Clear11 (64.7%)
Clear/Clear2 (11.8%)
-77.8%prior 9
Cloudy1 (5.9%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (5.9%)
Rain1 (5.9%)
Rain/Rain1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight12 (66.7%)
-14.3%prior 14
Dark - lighted roadway3 (16.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (11.1%)
Dusk1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry15 (88.2%)
0.0%prior 15
Wet2 (11.8%)
-71.4%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (34 vehicles)

1
FORD6 (17.6%)
2
HONDA3 (8.8%)
3
NISSAN3 (8.8%)
4
SUBARU3 (8.8%)
5
TOYOTA2 (5.9%)
-66.7%prior 6
6
BMW2 (5.9%)
7
CHEVROLET2 (5.9%)
8
KIA2 (5.9%)
9
VOLVO1 (2.9%)
10
CADI1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (37 persons with recorded sex)

Male23 (62.2%)
4.5%prior 22
Female14 (37.8%)
-48.1%prior 27

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 65 mph speed zone increased from 1 in October 2022 to 4 in October 2023, though the fatal rate within this zone decreased from 100% to 25%. Crashes at 35 mph and 50 mph, present in the prior period, were not recorded in the current period. Crashes at 25 mph and 30 mph each increased by one count, from 1 to 2 and 3 to 4 respectively.

Fatal crashes by zone: 65 mph: 1 of 4 (25%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: PLAINVILLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 18
  • Total persons involved: 42
  • Total vehicles involved: 34

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: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/plainville/october-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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Plainville, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com