Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

61 CRASHES IN
READING, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

In October 2023, the city of READING experienced 61 crashes, marking a 32.6% increase compared to the 46 crashes recorded in October 2022. The most significant year-over-year shift was in total injuries, which surged from 1 in October 2022 to 12 in October 2023.

61

32.6%was 46

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

12

1100.0%was 1

Persons Injured

1

-75.0%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.

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 indicates a notable increase in crash incidents, with total crashes rising by 32.6% from 46 in October 2022 to 61 in October 2023. Concurrently, total injuries saw a substantial increase from 1 to 12, representing an 1100% rise year-over-year.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023

-75.0% vs prior (4)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 4 in October 2022 to 1 in October 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate fell from 8.7% to 1.6% year-over-year, indicating a downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 11000.0%

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 peak day for crashes shifted from Saturday with 11 crashes in October 2022 to Sunday with 13 crashes in October 2023. The peak hour also changed, moving from 6 PM with 6 crashes in the prior period to 2 PM with 10 crashes in the current period. Crashes occurring on Sundays increased significantly from 3 to 13, while crashes at 2 PM rose from 2 to 10.

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

There were no fatal crashes in either period, maintaining a 0% fatal crash rate. However, the proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries (Severity B) increased from 2.2% (1 crash) in October 2022 to 13.1% (8 crashes) in October 2023. Additionally, crashes with possible injuries (Severity C) appeared in the current period with 1 crash, whereas none were recorded in the prior period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury8minor injury crashes13.1%
700.0%prior 1
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes1.6%
No Injury52no injury crashes85.2%
20.9%prior 43

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

The top contributing factor, 'Followed too closely,' increased by 3 crashes, from 9 in October 2022 to 12 in October 2023. 'No improper driving' also saw a slight increase of 1 crash, from 8 to 9. Notably, 'Distracted' driving incidents rose from 0 to 3 crashes, and 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased from 0 to 1 crash year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely12 (19.7%)33.3%prior 9
No improper driving9 (14.8%)12.5%prior 8
Inattention7 (11.5%)0.0%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road4 (6.6%)
Distracted3 (4.9%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (3.3%)
Other improper action2 (3.3%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (1.6%)
Operating defective equipment1 (1.6%)

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 occurring in daylight conditions increased from 29 in October 2022 to 41 in October 2023. Crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 36 to 48, while those on wet surfaces increased from 10 to 13. The number of crashes during 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions also increased from 8 to 13.

Weather

Clear/Clear21 (35.0%)
-4.5%prior 22
Clear14 (23.3%)
7.7%prior 13
Cloudy/Cloudy8 (13.3%)
Rain/Rain5 (8.3%)
Cloudy5 (8.3%)
Rain4 (6.7%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.7%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (1.7%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (1.7%)

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

Lighting

Daylight41 (68.3%)
41.4%prior 29
Dark - lighted roadway13 (21.7%)
62.5%prior 8
Dusk4 (6.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.7%)
Dawn1 (1.7%)

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

Road Surface

Dry48 (78.7%)
33.3%prior 36
Wet13 (21.3%)
30.0%prior 10

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 95 in October 2022 to 121 in October 2023. Toyota vehicles involved in crashes increased from 14 to 24, becoming the top make in the current period, while Honda involvement decreased from 17 to 13. There was a notable increase in persons aged 35-44 involved in crashes, rising from 13 to 26, and those aged 55-64, increasing from 6 to 17.

Top Vehicle Makes (121 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA24 (19.8%)
71.4%prior 14
2
HONDA13 (10.7%)
-23.5%prior 17
3
FORD10 (8.3%)
-16.7%prior 12
4
JEEP8 (6.6%)
5
MERCEDES-BENZ7 (5.8%)
6
NISSAN7 (5.8%)
-30.0%prior 10
7
CHEVROLET6 (5%)
-14.3%prior 7
8
HYUNDAI5 (4.1%)
9
KIA4 (3.3%)
10
BMW3 (2.5%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (149 persons with recorded sex)

Male82 (55.0%)
30.2%prior 63
Female67 (45.0%)
76.3%prior 38

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 occurring in 40 mph speed zones increased from 4 in October 2022 to 10 in October 2023. Similarly, crashes in 55 mph speed zones rose from 11 to 19. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone for either period.

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: READING, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 61
  • Total persons involved: 164
  • Total vehicles involved: 121

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). "READING, 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/reading/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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Reading, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com