ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, 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/statewide/august-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
10,932 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
AUGUST 2023
In August 2023, there were 10,932 total crashes, a 3.4% increase from the 10,571 crashes recorded in August 2022. Despite the rise in total incidents, the most notable year-over-year change was a significant decrease in fatalities, which fell from 48 to 31. Crashes attributed to failing to yield the right of way saw a substantial increase, while those occurring on wet road surfaces also rose in proportion to the prior year.
10,932
▲ 3.4%was 10,571
Total Crash Events
31
▼ -35.4%was 48
Persons Killed
3,621
▲ 1.7%was 3,561
Persons Injured
1,028
▲ 16.2%was 885
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (31) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (31) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 658 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
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
Crash data from August 2023 indicates a slight upward trend in total incidents compared to the same month in the prior year, with total crashes rising by 3.4% from 10,571 to 10,932. While total injuries saw a marginal increase of 1.7% from 3,561 to 3,621, fatalities experienced a substantial 35.4% decrease, dropping from 48 in August 2022 to 31 in August 2023.
1,028
Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023
▲ 16.2% vs prior (885)
Hit-and-run incidents increased in both count and as a proportion of total crashes when comparing August 2023 to the prior year. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose by 16.2%, from 885 in August 2022 to 1,028 in August 2023. This corresponds to an increase in the hit-and-run rate from 8.4% to 9.4% of all crashes, indicating an upward trend for this type of incident.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
3
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
27
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
125
Pedestrians Injured
155
Cyclists Injured
3,318
Motorists Injured
23
Other 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 patterns of crashes showed some consistency year-over-year, with the peak hour for crashes remaining at 4 PM in both August 2023 (968 crashes) and August 2022 (881 crashes). However, the peak day of the week shifted slightly, moving from Tuesday (1,742 crashes) in the prior year to Wednesday (1,873 crashes) in the current period. This indicates that mid-week continues to be the most frequent time for collisions.
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
The severity of crashes shifted toward less severe outcomes year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes fell from 47 in August 2022 to 31 in August 2023, and their share of total crashes decreased from 0.4% to 0.3%. Concurrently, the proportion of crashes resulting in no injury increased from 65.7% to 69.5%, while the share of all injury-related crashes (serious, minor, and possible) remained stable at approximately 24% of all incidents.
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
The leading contributing factors remained consistent between August 2022 and August 2023, with 'No improper driving,' 'Inattention,' and 'Failed to yield right of way' as the top three reported factors in both periods. However, the count of crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' increased substantially by 24.8%, rising from 1,007 to 1,257 incidents. In contrast, crashes linked to 'Inattention' saw a slight 2.2% decrease in count from 1,614 to 1,579.
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
While lighting conditions for crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with approximately 76% of incidents in both periods occurring in daylight, there was a significant shift in road surface conditions. The proportion of crashes on wet roads increased from 7.9% of all crashes in August 2022 (837 incidents) to 14.6% in August 2023 (1,595 incidents). Correspondingly, crashes on dry roads decreased as a share of the total, from 90.3% to 83.6%.
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 top three vehicle makes involved in crashes remained unchanged year-over-year, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford leading in both August 2022 and August 2023. The number of vehicles from these top makes involved in crashes saw a slight increase, consistent with the overall rise in crash volume. The age distribution of persons involved in crashes also remained largely stable, with no significant shifts in the proportional representation of any single age group between the two periods.
Top Vehicle Makes (20,437 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,888 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (22,821 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
Year-over-year data shows a 14.4% increase in crashes within 25 mph speed zones, rising from 1,972 to 2,256 incidents. While total crashes in 30 mph zones remained relatively stable, the number of fatal crashes in these zones dropped from 14 to 3. Conversely, fatal crashes in 35 mph zones doubled from 3 to 6, and fatal crashes on roads with a 65 mph limit were halved from 8 to 4.
Fatal crashes by zone: 10 mph: 1 of 167 (0.599%) · 20 mph: 1 of 344 (0.291%) · 25 mph: 6 of 2,256 (0.266%) · 30 mph: 3 of 2,858 (0.105%) · 35 mph: 6 of 1,449 (0.414%) · 40 mph: 3 of 820 (0.366%) · 45 mph: 1 of 363 (0.275%) · 50 mph: 2 of 234 (0.855%) · 55 mph: 1 of 531 (0.188%) · 60 mph: 1 of 47 (2.128%) · 65 mph: 4 of 699 (0.572%)
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: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 10,932
- Total persons involved: 26,054
- Total vehicles involved: 20,437
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). "massachusetts, 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/statewide/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