Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

9 CRASHES IN
SOUTH HADLEY, MA
JULY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2022

SOUTH HADLEY experienced a notable decrease in traffic incidents in July 2023 compared to July 2022, with total crashes falling by 55% from 20 to 9. This significant reduction in overall crash volume is the most prominent year-over-year shift. Fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

9

-55.0%was 20

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

20.0%was 5

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 2

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 · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend for crashes in SOUTH HADLEY shows a significant decline, with total crashes decreasing from 20 in July 2022 to 9 in July 2023. This represents a 55% reduction in crash incidents year-over-year, indicating a positive trend in crash reduction.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 520.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in July 2022 (4 crashes) to Saturday in July 2023 (2 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes changed from 3 PM in July 2022 (4 crashes) to 12 PM in July 2023 (2 crashes). This indicates a shift in when crashes are most concentrated.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero in both July 2022 and July 2023, indicating no change in the most severe outcome. While total injuries increased slightly from 5 to 6 persons, the number of crashes involving serious injuries (code A) decreased from 1 in July 2022 to 0 in July 2023. Crashes resulting in minor injuries (code B) decreased from 3 to 2, though their proportion of total crashes rose from 15% to 22.2%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes22.2%
-33.3%prior 3
No Injury7no injury crashes77.8%
-50.0%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among common contributing factors, crashes attributed to Inattention decreased from 4 in July 2022 to 3 in July 2023. Crashes due to Failed to yield right of way also saw a reduction, dropping from 3 to 1 incident year-over-year. The factor of Followed too closely remained consistent, accounting for 1 crash in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention3 (33.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (11.1%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (11.1%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (11.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (11.1%)
Visibility obstructed1 (11.1%)
Followed too closely1 (11.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased substantially from 18 in July 2022 to 6 in July 2023, mirroring the overall crash reduction. Conversely, crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 1 to 2, and incidents involving rain-related weather conditions, such as Cloudy/Rain and Rain, were observed in 2 crashes in July 2023, compared to none explicitly listed in July 2022. Crashes during dusk also increased from 1 to 2.

Weather

Clear6 (66.7%)
-66.7%prior 18
Cloudy1 (11.1%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (11.1%)
Rain1 (11.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight6 (66.7%)
-60.0%prior 15
Dusk2 (22.2%)
Dark - lighted roadway1 (11.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry7 (77.8%)
-63.2%prior 19
Wet2 (22.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (16 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA3 (18.8%)
-50.0%prior 6
2
HONDA3 (18.8%)
3
HYUNDAI2 (12.5%)
4
FORD2 (12.5%)
-71.4%prior 7
5
NISSAN2 (12.5%)
6
MERCEDES-BENZ1 (6.3%)
7
GENS1 (6.3%)
8
RAM1 (6.3%)
9
CHEVROLET1 (6.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (22 persons with recorded sex)

Male14 (63.6%)
-26.3%prior 19
Female8 (36.4%)
-46.7%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes at 30 mph speed zones decreased from 7 in July 2022 to 4 in July 2023, while crashes at 25 mph zones also saw a reduction from 4 to 1. Conversely, crashes occurring in 35 mph zones increased from 1 to 2 incidents year-over-year. Several speed zones, such as 10, 40, and 50 mph, which had crashes in July 2022, reported no crashes in July 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · 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: 2023-07-01 through 2023-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-07-01 through 2023-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTH HADLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 9
  • Total persons involved: 23
  • Total vehicles involved: 16

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). "SOUTH HADLEY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/south-hadley/july-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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South Hadley, MA Crash Report — July 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com