Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

12 CRASHES IN
SOUTHWICK, MA
MAY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2022

SOUTHWICK experienced a notable increase in total crashes in May 2023, with 12 crashes compared to 7 in May 2022, marking a 71.4% rise. This period also saw the emergence of serious injury crashes, with 1 reported in May 2023, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

12

71.4%was 7

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

50.0%was 4

Persons Injured

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 · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 71.4% from 7 to 12. Total injuries also increased by 50%, from 4 to 6, while total fatalities remained stable at 0 in both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2023

0.0% vs prior (1)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained consistent at 1 in both May 2023 and May 2022. However, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 14.3% in May 2022 to 8.3% in May 2023, reflecting the overall increase in total crashes during the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 450.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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, with Wednesday becoming the peak day in May 2023 with 3 crashes, compared to Saturday being the peak day in May 2022, also with 3 crashes. The peak hour for crashes shifted from 2 PM in May 2022 (3 crashes) to 3 PM in May 2023 (2 crashes), and crashes were more distributed across different hours in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity distributions changed year-over-year, with 1 serious injury crash occurring in May 2023, where none were reported in May 2022. Minor injury crashes decreased from 4 (57.1% of total crashes) in May 2022 to 3 (25% of total crashes) in May 2023. Conversely, no injury crashes significantly increased from 2 (28.6% of total crashes) to 8 (66.7% of total crashes) over the same period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes8.3%
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes25%
-25.0%prior 4
No Injury8no injury crashes66.7%
300.0%prior 2

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'Followed too closely' crashes saw a substantial increase, rising from 1 crash in May 2022 to 4 crashes in May 2023, a 300% increase in count. 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' crashes decreased by 50% in count, from 2 in May 2022 to 1 in May 2023. 'No improper driving' and 'Inattention' emerged as significant factors in May 2023, with 3 and 2 crashes respectively, neither of which were among the top factors in May 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely4 (33.3%)
No improper driving3 (25%)
Inattention2 (16.7%)
Other improper action2 (16.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (8.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Regarding lighting conditions, crashes occurring in daylight increased from 5 in May 2022 to 11 in May 2023. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight also rose from 71.4% in the prior period to 91.7% in the current period. Crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 2 to 1.

Lighting

Daylight11 (91.7%)
120.0%prior 5
Dark - lighted roadway1 (8.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (25 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA6 (24%)
2
CHEVROLET4 (16%)
3
HYUNDAI3 (12%)
4
HONDA2 (8%)
5
HD2 (8%)
6
VOLVO1 (4%)
7
DODGE1 (4%)
8
GMC1 (4%)
9
HOME1 (4%)
10
NISSAN1 (4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (28 persons with recorded sex)

Female14 (50.0%)
133.3%prior 6
Male14 (50.0%)
180.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones shifted, with crashes in 40 mph zones increasing from 1 in May 2022 to 3 in May 2023. Additionally, 3 crashes occurred in 45 mph zones in May 2023, a speed zone not represented in the prior period's data. Crashes in 25 mph zones, which accounted for 2 crashes in May 2022, were not observed in May 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31 · 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: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-05-01 through 2023-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOUTHWICK, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 12
  • Total persons involved: 30
  • Total vehicles involved: 25

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). "SOUTHWICK, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2023-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/southwick/may-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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Southwick, MA Crash Report — May 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com