ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · OCTOBER 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/october-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
12,618 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
OCTOBER 2023
In October 2023, there were 12,618 total crashes, a 2.5% increase from the 12,313 crashes recorded in October 2022. While total collisions saw a modest rise, the number of hit-and-run incidents increased by 19.7% year-over-year. Despite the rise in total crashes and injuries, the number of fatalities decreased from 42 to 33 over the same period.
12,618
▲ 2.5%was 12,313
Total Crash Events
33
▼ -21.4%was 42
Persons Killed
3,932
▲ 8.2%was 3,633
Persons Injured
1,205
▲ 19.7%was 1,007
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (33) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (32) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 678 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Crash totals showed a slight upward trend in October 2023 compared to the previous year, increasing by 2.5% from 12,313 to 12,618. This increase was accompanied by an 8.2% rise in total injuries, from 3,633 to 3,932. However, the number of fatalities saw a notable decrease, falling from 42 in October 2022 to 33 in the current period.
1,205
Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023
▲ 19.7% vs prior (1,007)
Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly in October 2023 compared to the same month in the previous year. The total count of hit-and-run incidents rose from 1,007 to 1,205, representing a 19.7% increase. The hit-and-run rate, which measures the proportion of all crashes that are hit-and-runs, also trended upward, climbing from 8.2% in October 2022 to 9.5% in October 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
7
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
25
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
175
Pedestrians Injured
143
Cyclists Injured
3,586
Motorists Injured
28
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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 for collisions moving from Saturday (1,930 incidents) in October 2022 to Tuesday (2,089 incidents) in October 2023. The 3 p.m. hour remained the most frequent time for crashes in both periods, although the count in that hour decreased from 1,037 to 992. Overall, crashes became more concentrated on weekdays in the current period compared to the prior year.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
While total crashes increased, the severity profile showed a mixed outcome in October 2023. The number of fatal crashes decreased from 38 to 32, and the total number of fatalities dropped from 42 to 33. The proportion of crashes resulting in serious injury rose slightly from 1.6% to 1.8%, and minor injury crashes increased from a 13.0% share to 14.2%. Crashes resulting in 'No Injury' also made up a larger share of the total, rising from 69.6% to 71.4%.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 32 fatal crash events resulted in 33 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The leading contributing factors remained consistent between the two periods, with 'Inattention' and 'Failed to yield right of way' being the top two driver-related causes after 'No improper driving'. However, the number of crashes attributed to 'Failed to yield right of way' increased by 10.3% in count, from 1,243 to 1,371 incidents. Similarly, crashes involving 'Followed too closely' rose by 9.2% in count, from 1,140 to 1,245. The top four contributing factors maintained the same rank order year-over-year.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes in October 2023 occurred under more favorable road conditions compared to the prior year. The proportion of collisions on dry road surfaces increased from 75.7% in 2022 to 82.7% in 2023, while crashes on wet surfaces decreased from a 22.6% share to 15.8%. Lighting conditions remained largely consistent, with approximately 64% of crashes in both periods happening during daylight hours. Crashes during rainy weather also saw a proportional decrease, accounting for 8.1% of incidents in 2023 versus 9.5% in 2022.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The composition of vehicles involved in crashes remained stable year-over-year. The top five vehicle makes involved in collisions were identical in both October 2023 and October 2022: Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, and Nissan, in that order. The age distribution of persons involved in crashes also showed little change, with most age groups representing a similar share of the total in both periods. For example, individuals aged 65 and older accounted for 10.7% of persons involved in 2023, a slight increase from 10.2% in 2022.
Top Vehicle Makes (23,390 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Vehicle unit records
3,220 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (25,895 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The distribution of crashes across different speed zones remained relatively consistent, with a slight shift toward lower-speed zones in October 2023. Crashes in zones with posted speed limits of 30 mph or less accounted for 57.6% of the total, up from 56.4% in the prior year. A significant change was observed in high-speed zones, where fatalities decreased markedly; crashes in 65 mph zones resulted in 4 deaths in 2023, a substantial reduction from the 12 deaths recorded in the same zones in October 2022.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 376 (0.266%) · 25 mph: 6 of 2,520 (0.238%) · 30 mph: 8 of 3,332 (0.24%) · 35 mph: 4 of 1,685 (0.237%) · 40 mph: 3 of 895 (0.335%) · 45 mph: 2 of 464 (0.431%) · 55 mph: 3 of 695 (0.432%) · 65 mph: 4 of 821 (0.487%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 12,618
- Total persons involved: 29,573
- Total vehicles involved: 23,390
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: October 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/october-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: 2023-10-01 – 2023-10-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved