ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · ROCHESTER, MA · 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/rochester/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
81 CRASHES IN
ROCHESTER, MA
2023
In 2023, Rochester recorded 81 total traffic crashes, a 5.8% decrease from the 86 crashes reported in 2022. While overall crashes and injuries declined, the number of hit-and-run incidents doubled from one to two during the same period.
81
▼ -5.8%was 86
Total Crash Events
1
Persons Killed
24
▼ -14.3%was 28
Persons Injured
2
▲ 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. 2 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
The overall trend in traffic crashes in Rochester shows a slight decline year-over-year. Total incidents fell from 86 in 2022 to 81 in 2023, a decrease of 5.8%. Similarly, the number of people injured in these crashes decreased from 28 to 24, while the number of fatalities remained stable at one for both years.
2
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▲ 100.0% vs prior (1)
Hit-and-run crashes showed an upward trend, although the absolute numbers remain low. The count of hit-and-run incidents doubled from 1 in 2022 to 2 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate, as a percentage of total crashes, also more than doubled, increasing from 1.2% in 2022 to 2.5% in 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
1
Motorists Killed
24
Motorists Injured
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 Tuesday with 16 incidents, a change from 2022 when Wednesday was the peak day with 18 incidents. The peak hour also moved later in the evening, shifting from the 5 p.m. hour, which saw 9 crashes in 2022, to the 7 p.m. hour, which saw 8 crashes in 2023.
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 distributions showed some changes year-over-year, though the number of fatal crashes remained constant at one in both 2023 and 2022. The fatal crash rate saw a slight increase from 1.16% to 1.23% due to the lower total number of crashes in 2023. The number of crashes involving minor injuries increased from 10 to 11, while those with possible injuries saw a significant drop from 7 to 2.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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 leading cause of crashes in both periods was 'No improper driving,' with a stable count of 36 incidents each year. However, the counts for other contributing factors shifted. Crashes attributed to a fatigued or asleep driver decreased significantly, from 7 incidents in 2022 to 1 in 2023. Conversely, crashes involving physical impairment increased from 1 in 2022 to 4 in 2023. The count for 'Failed to yield right of way' also decreased from 7 to 5 incidents.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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
Crashes in 2023 occurred under slightly different environmental conditions compared to 2022. The proportion of crashes happening in darkness (combining lighted and unlighted roadways) decreased from 39.5% of all crashes in 2022 to 32.1% in 2023. Crashes on wet road surfaces also decreased, from 15 incidents in 2022 to 12 in 2023. The number of crashes on icy roads saw a small increase from 3 to 4 incidents year-over-year.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Analysis of vehicle and person data reveals demographic shifts between 2022 and 2023. The number of people aged 65+ involved in crashes more than doubled from 10 to 23, and the 16-20 age group saw an increase from 23 to 34 individuals. Regarding vehicle makes, Ford and Toyota remained the top two most involved makes in both years, with their counts increasing. Conversely, the number of Jeeps involved in crashes decreased from 11 in 2022 to 3 in 2023.
Top Vehicle Makes (110 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
2 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (136 persons with recorded sex)
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 changed between 2022 and 2023. Crashes in 40 mph zones, the most frequent location in both years, decreased from 43 to 37 incidents. In contrast, crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 20 to 25. The location of the year's fatal crash also shifted, occurring in a 25 mph zone in 2022 and a 35 mph zone in 2023.
Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 25 (4%)
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: ROCHESTER, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 81
- Total persons involved: 140
- Total vehicles involved: 110
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). "ROCHESTER, 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/rochester/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved