Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

34 CRASHES IN
SANDWICH, MA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

In October 2023, SANDWICH, MA experienced 34 crashes, marking a 25.9% increase from the 27 crashes reported in October 2022. The most significant shift observed is the presence of 1 fatality in October 2023, compared to 0 fatalities in the prior year.

34

25.9%was 27

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

9

12.5%was 8

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 2

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 indicates a notable increase in crashes year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 27 in October 2022 to 34 in October 2023. This represents a 25.9% increase in crash incidents for the month.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

9

Motorists Injured

Prior: 812.5%

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 shifted between the two periods. In October 2023, the peak day for crashes was Monday with 7 incidents, whereas in October 2022, Sunday saw the highest count with 11 crashes. The peak hour also changed, with 4 PM recording 5 crashes in October 2023, compared to 9 PM with 4 crashes in October 2022.

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

Crash severity saw a critical change with 1 fatal crash occurring in October 2023, accounting for 2.9% of all crashes, compared to 0 fatal crashes in October 2022. Total injuries slightly increased from 8 in October 2022 to 9 in October 2023. The proportion of minor injury crashes remained similar at 11.8% in October 2023 (4 crashes) versus 11.1% in October 2022 (3 crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes2.9%
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes11.8%
33.3%prior 3
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes11.8%
No Injury25no injury crashes73.5%
13.6%prior 22

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

Comparing contributing factors, 'Inattention' crashes increased by 2, from 3 in October 2022 to 5 in October 2023, representing a 66.7% rise. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' also increased by 1, from 2 to 3, a 50% change. 'Made an improper turn' doubled from 1 crash to 2 crashes, while 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' appeared with 2 crashes in October 2023, compared to 0 explicitly labeled as such in October 2022. Factors like 'No improper driving', 'Failed to yield right of way', and 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' maintained the same crash counts in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving7 (20.6%)0.0%prior 7
Inattention5 (14.7%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (11.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (8.8%)
Followed too closely3 (8.8%)
Made an improper turn2 (5.9%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (5.9%)
Glare1 (2.9%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (2.9%)
Other improper action1 (2.9%)

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

Weather conditions remained predominantly clear, with clear weather crashes increasing from 21 in October 2022 to 26 in October 2023. Crashes during daylight hours significantly increased from 13 in October 2022 to 26 in October 2023, while crashes in unlighted dark conditions decreased from 10 to 6. Road surface conditions saw a slight increase in wet road crashes, from 5 in October 2022 to 6 in October 2023.

Weather

Clear26 (78.8%)
23.8%prior 21
Cloudy3 (9.1%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (3.0%)
Rain1 (3.0%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (3.0%)
Clear/Rain1 (3.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight26 (76.5%)
100.0%prior 13
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (17.6%)
-40.0%prior 10
Dark - lighted roadway1 (2.9%)
Dusk1 (2.9%)

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

Road Surface

Dry28 (82.4%)
27.3%prior 22
Wet6 (17.6%)
20.0%prior 5

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 (53 vehicles)

1
FORD15 (28.3%)
2
TOYOTA8 (15.1%)
-11.1%prior 9
3
GMC5 (9.4%)
4
HONDA5 (9.4%)
5
JEEP3 (5.7%)
-50.0%prior 6
6
VOLVO2 (3.8%)
7
CHEVROLET2 (3.8%)
8
STRG2 (3.8%)
9
SUBARU2 (3.8%)
10
ACURA2 (3.8%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (59 persons with recorded sex)

Male35 (59.3%)
-38.6%prior 57
Female24 (40.7%)
-7.7%prior 26

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 30 mph zones more than doubled, increasing from 5 in October 2022 to 11 in October 2023, a 120% rise. Crashes in 40 mph zones also increased from 7 to 9, a 28.6% increase. Notably, the single fatal crash in October 2023 occurred in a 40 mph zone, whereas no fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone in October 2022.

Fatal crashes by zone: 40 mph: 1 of 9 (11.111%)

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: SANDWICH, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 34
  • Total persons involved: 62
  • Total vehicles involved: 53

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). "SANDWICH, 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/sandwich/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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Sandwich, MA Crash Report — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com