ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · SOMERVILLE, MA · AUGUST 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/somerville/august-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
59 CRASHES IN
SOMERVILLE, MA
AUGUST 2023
In August 2023, Somerville experienced 59 crashes, a 3.3% decrease from the 61 crashes reported in August 2022. A notable year-over-year shift was the emergence of DUI-related crashes, increasing from 0 in the prior period to 2 in the current period.
59
▼ -3.3%was 61
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
20
▼ -16.7%was 24
Persons Injured
0
▼ -100.0%was 1
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 · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall crash data for Somerville shows a slight downward trend, with total crashes decreasing by 3.3% from 61 in August 2022 to 59 in August 2023. Concurrently, total injuries also decreased by 16.7%, from 24 to 20, while fatalities remained at 0 in both periods.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
0
Motorists Killed
1
Pedestrians Injured
6
Cyclists Injured
13
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Monday and Friday in August 2022 (12 crashes each) to Thursday in August 2023 (15 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 3 PM in August 2022 (7 crashes) to 9 PM in August 2023 (5 crashes).
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
While total fatalities remained at 0 in both August 2022 and August 2023, there was a shift in injury severity. Serious injuries increased from 0 in the prior period to 1 in the current period, representing 1.7% of crashes. Minor injuries decreased from 11 (18%) to 9 (15.3%), and possible injuries decreased from 10 (16.4%) to 8 (13.6%), contributing to an overall 16.7% reduction in total injuries.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Among common contributing factors, 'No improper driving' increased by 3 crashes, from 11 in August 2022 to 14 in August 2023. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' decreased by 4 crashes (from 11 to 7), 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased by 4 crashes (from 6 to 2), and 'Inattention' decreased by 2 crashes (from 5 to 3). 'Over-correcting/over-steering' emerged as a contributing factor in 5 crashes in August 2023, while it was not among the top factors in August 2022.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crash conditions showed shifts, with a decrease in crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions, from 56 in August 2022 to 44 in August 2023. Conversely, crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions significantly increased from 3 to 12. There was also an increase in crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces, rising from 1 in the prior period to 6 in the current period.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 114 in August 2022 to 109 in August 2023. Toyota remained the top make involved, increasing from 22 to 26 vehicles, while Ford involvement decreased from 14 to 9 vehicles. Analysis of persons involved shows an increase in the 0-15 age group (from 2 to 4) and 16-20 age group (from 4 to 9), while several older age groups saw decreases.
Top Vehicle Makes (109 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records
50 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (112 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes within specific speed zones saw notable changes. Crashes in 20 MPH zones increased from 7 in August 2022 to 14 in August 2023, and 35 MPH zones increased from 7 to 10. Conversely, crashes in 25 MPH zones decreased from 28 to 23, and 30 MPH zones decreased from 9 to 3. Fatal crash rates remained at 0 across all speed zones in both periods.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: SOMERVILLE, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 59
- Total persons involved: 159
- Total vehicles involved: 109
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). "SOMERVILLE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/somerville/august-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
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-08-01 – 2023-08-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved