ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · MARCH 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/march-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
10,586 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
MARCH 2023
In March 2023, there were 10,586 total crashes, a 6.3% increase from the 9,961 crashes recorded in March 2022. This year-over-year rise was accompanied by increases in both injuries and fatalities. One of the most significant changes was a 26.7% increase in crashes where speeding was a contributing factor, which rose from 445 to 564 incidents.
10,586
▲ 6.3%was 9,961
Total Crash Events
28
▲ 12.0%was 25
Persons Killed
3,164
▲ 8.1%was 2,928
Persons Injured
951
▲ 22.7%was 775
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (28) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (26) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 683 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Crash data for March 2023 indicates an upward trend compared to the same month in the prior year. Total crashes increased by 6.3%, rising from 9,961 to 10,586. This increase was mirrored in the severity of outcomes, with total injuries climbing by 8.1% from 2,928 to 3,164, and total fatalities increasing by 12% from 25 to 28.
951
Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2023
▲ 22.7% vs prior (775)
Hit-and-run incidents increased significantly in March 2023 compared to the previous year. The total number of hit-and-run crashes rose by 22.7%, from 775 in March 2022 to 951 in March 2023. This increase outpaced the overall growth in crashes, causing the hit-and-run rate to climb from 7.8% to 9.0% of all reported incidents.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
6
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
22
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
145
Pedestrians Injured
40
Cyclists Injured
2,968
Motorists Injured
11
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent between March 2022 and March 2023. Wednesday was the peak day for crashes in both periods, with 1,728 and 1,752 crashes respectively. Similarly, the 3 PM hour was the busiest time of day in both years, with 845 crashes in 2022 and 848 in 2023. While the overall daily and hourly distributions were similar, crashes on Fridays saw a notable increase from 1,469 to 1,696 year-over-year.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The overall severity distribution of crashes saw minor shifts between the two periods. While the absolute number of fatal crashes increased slightly from 25 to 26, their share of total crashes decreased from 0.3% to 0.2%. Crashes resulting in minor injuries increased from 1,189 to 1,302, and those with possible injuries rose from 783 to 850. Overall, the proportion of crashes involving any level of injury (from possible to fatal) saw a slight increase from 21.6% in March 2022 to 22.1% in March 2023.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 26 fatal crash events resulted in 28 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with 'Inattention' and 'Failed to yield right of way' being the top two driver-related causes in both March 2022 and March 2023. The count of crashes attributed to inattention rose by 8.8% from 1,358 to 1,478, while those for failing to yield increased by 14.3% from 966 to 1,104. A notable change was observed in speed-related factors; the count of crashes due to 'Driving too fast for conditions' surged by 43.2%, from 271 to 388.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes in March 2023 occurred under slightly different environmental conditions compared to March 2022. The proportion of incidents on dry roads increased from 73.6% to 75.1%, while crashes on wet roads decreased from 1,655 to 1,555. Despite this, the absolute number of crashes on roads with snow, ice, or slush increased from 777 to 904. Crashes in daylight conditions also grew, rising from 6,746 to 7,313, and their share of total crashes increased from 67.7% to 69.1%.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The makes of vehicles involved in crashes remained stable, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford being the top three in both March 2022 and March 2023. The age demographics of persons involved in crashes showed a general increase across most groups, consistent with the overall rise in incidents. The most significant proportional increase was seen in the 65+ age group, where the number of individuals involved in crashes grew by 22.9%, from 1,979 to 2,432. The 26-34 and 35-44 age groups also saw notable increases in involvement, rising by 9.2% and 10.5% respectively.
Top Vehicle Makes (19,562 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,879 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (21,398 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The distribution of crashes across speed zones shows an increase in incidents in both lower and higher speed areas. Crashes in 30 mph zones rose from 2,723 to 2,985, and those in 25 mph zones increased from 1,803 to 2,068. While the number of fatal crashes decreased in these zones, fatalities increased in 35 mph and 65 mph zones, rising from 1 to 4 and 2 to 5, respectively.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 3 of 2,068 (0.145%) · 30 mph: 4 of 2,985 (0.134%) · 35 mph: 4 of 1,396 (0.287%) · 40 mph: 5 of 791 (0.632%) · 45 mph: 3 of 360 (0.833%) · 65 mph: 5 of 635 (0.787%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 10,586
- Total persons involved: 24,499
- Total vehicles involved: 19,562
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: March 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/march-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: 2023-03-01 – 2023-03-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved