Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

6 CRASHES IN
RUSSELL, MA
JANUARY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2022

Total crashes in January 2023 increased to 6, up from 5 crashes in January 2022, representing a 20% rise year-over-year. The most notable shift was the absence of hit-and-run crashes in January 2023, compared to 3 hit-and-run crashes reported in January 2022. Fatalities and injuries remained at zero in both periods.

6

20.0%was 5

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

0

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 3

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. 6 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 2023-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in January 2023 showed an increasing trend compared to January 2022, with total crashes rising from 5 to 6, a 20% increase. Despite this rise in crash count, both total fatalities and total injuries remained at zero for both periods.

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Friday with 3 crashes in January 2022 to Thursday with 2 crashes in January 2023. Crashes on Tuesday increased from 0 in January 2022 to 2 in January 2023, while Friday crashes decreased from 3 to 0. The peak crash hour also changed, with January 2023 showing a peak at 10 p.m. with 1 crash, compared to 3 p.m. with 1 crash in January 2022.

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

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

Top Contributing Factors

The most frequent contributing factor in January 2023 was 'No improper driving' with 3 crashes, an increase from 1 crash in January 2022. This factor represented 50% of crashes in January 2023, up from 20% in January 2022. 'Driving too fast for conditions' remained constant with 1 crash in both periods, accounting for 16.7% of crashes in January 2023 and 20% in January 2022. Factors like 'Fatigued/asleep' and 'Followed too closely,' each present in 1 crash in January 2022 (20% share), were not reported in January 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving3 (50%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (16.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (16.7%)
Inattention1 (16.7%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather decreased from 4 in January 2022 to 1 in January 2023. Conversely, crashes in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 2 to 4 year-over-year, while 'Dark - roadway not lighted' crashes remained constant at 2. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces decreased from 4 to 3, and crashes on 'Snow' surfaces increased from 1 to 2.

Weather

Clear1 (16.7%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (16.7%)
Rain1 (16.7%)
Severe crosswinds1 (16.7%)
Snow1 (16.7%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (16.7%)

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

Lighting

Daylight4 (66.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (33.3%)

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

Road Surface

Dry3 (50.0%)
Snow2 (33.3%)
Wet1 (16.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (8 vehicles)

1
FORD1 (12.5%)
2
FREIGHTLINER1 (12.5%)
3
HONDA1 (12.5%)
4
IC1 (12.5%)
5
INTERNATIONAL1 (12.5%)
6
KIA1 (12.5%)
7
SUBARU1 (12.5%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (7 persons with recorded sex)

Female4 (57.1%)
300.0%prior 1
Male3 (42.9%)
-25.0%prior 4

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 65 mph speed zones remained constant at 3 crashes in both January 2022 and January 2023. January 2023 saw 2 crashes in 40 mph zones and 1 crash in a 45 mph zone, categories not present in January 2022 data. Conversely, January 2022 reported 1 crash in a 25 mph zone and 1 crash in a 30 mph zone, categories not present in January 2023. No fatalities were reported in any speed zone for either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: RUSSELL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 6
  • Total persons involved: 16
  • Total vehicles involved: 8

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). "RUSSELL, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/russell/january-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

Russell, MA Crash Report — January 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com