Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

168 CRASHES IN
SUTTON, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Sutton, total traffic crashes remained stable year-over-year, with 168 incidents in 2023 compared to 167 in 2022, an increase of less than 1%. While overall crash volume was consistent, there was a significant improvement in crash severity. The most notable change was the reduction in fatalities from two in the prior year to zero in the current year.

168

0.6%was 167

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

48

4.3%was 46

Persons Injured

3

-70.0%was 10

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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in traffic crashes in Sutton was stable between 2022 and 2023, with the total number of incidents increasing by just one, from 167 to 168. The number of injuries also saw a slight increase from 46 to 48. However, fatalities dropped to zero in 2023, down from two in the previous year.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

-70.0% vs prior (10)

The number of hit-and-run incidents saw a substantial decrease in 2023. There were 3 hit-and-run crashes recorded, a 70% reduction from the 10 incidents in 2022. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate fell from 6.0% of all crashes in the prior year to 1.8% in the current year, indicating a downward trend for this type of incident.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

48

Motorists Injured

Prior: 464.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2023, the peak time for crashes was the 7 a.m. hour with 20 incidents, a change from 2022's peak at the 5 p.m. hour with 17 incidents. The most frequent day for crashes also moved from Wednesday (33 crashes) in 2022 to a tie between Tuesday and Thursday (29 crashes each) in 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity improved significantly in 2023, with zero fatal crashes recorded, down from two fatal incidents in 2022. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury remained stable at 75.0% in 2023, compared to 75.4% in the prior year. The number of serious injury crashes increased slightly from four to five, while the count of minor injury crashes was unchanged at 28 for both years.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury5serious injury crashes3%
25.0%prior 4
Minor Injury28minor injury crashes16.7%
0.0%prior 28
Possible Injury6possible injury crashes3.6%
0.0%prior 6
No Injury126no injury crashes75%
0.0%prior 126

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes shifted between 2022 and 2023. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' doubled in count, rising from 10 to 20. Conversely, crashes involving 'Inattention' saw a substantial decrease, falling from 21 incidents in 2022 to just 6 in 2023. Additionally, crashes related to 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased from a count of 2 to 11.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving61 (36.3%)27.1%prior 48
Followed too closely20 (11.9%)100.0%prior 10
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road11 (6.5%)
Failed to yield right of way11 (6.5%)10.0%prior 10
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner8 (4.8%)-27.3%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions7 (4.2%)-53.3%prior 15
Inattention6 (3.6%)-71.4%prior 21
Other improper action5 (3%)0.0%prior 5
Distracted5 (3%)
Physical impairment5 (3%)0.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The environmental conditions during crashes were largely consistent year-over-year. Crashes in daylight accounted for 66.7% of incidents in 2023, nearly identical to the 66.5% in 2022. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces remained the majority, comprising 75.6% of the total in 2023 versus 70.7% in 2022. There was a decrease in crashes occurring on snow- or ice-covered roads, which fell from a combined 19 incidents in 2022 to 10 in 2023.

Weather

Clear113 (69.8%)
-3.4%prior 117
Cloudy15 (9.3%)
36.4%prior 11
Rain10 (6.2%)
-23.1%prior 13
Cloudy/Rain6 (3.7%)
-14.3%prior 7
Clear/Cloudy3 (1.9%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (1.2%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.2%)
Snow2 (1.2%)
-80.0%prior 10
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.2%)
Rain/Snow1 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight112 (66.7%)
0.9%prior 111
Dark - roadway not lighted32 (19.0%)
-11.1%prior 36
Dark - lighted roadway12 (7.1%)
9.1%prior 11
Dusk7 (4.2%)
Dawn3 (1.8%)
-40.0%prior 5
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry127 (75.6%)
7.6%prior 118
Wet29 (17.3%)
7.4%prior 27
Slush4 (2.4%)
Snow4 (2.4%)
-71.4%prior 14
Ice2 (1.2%)
-60.0%prior 5
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel2 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The vehicle makes most frequently involved in crashes remained consistent, with Toyota, Ford, and Honda being the top three in both 2022 and 2023. When examining the age of persons involved, the 26-34 age group was the largest demographic in both periods, with its count increasing from 57 individuals in 2022 to 63 in 2023. Conversely, the number of individuals in the 16-20 age group involved in crashes decreased from 37 to 27.

Top Vehicle Makes (273 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA40 (14.7%)
-18.4%prior 49
2
FORD28 (10.3%)
-3.4%prior 29
3
HONDA22 (8.1%)
-21.4%prior 28
4
CHEVROLET18 (6.6%)
-30.8%prior 26
5
NISSAN18 (6.6%)
63.6%prior 11
6
JEEP17 (6.2%)
70.0%prior 10
7
SUBARU16 (5.9%)
0.0%prior 16
8
HYUNDAI15 (5.5%)
15.4%prior 13
9
MAZDA8 (2.9%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN7 (2.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (297 persons with recorded sex)

Male168 (56.6%)
-10.6%prior 188
Female129 (43.4%)
9.3%prior 118

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones shifted year-over-year. In 2023, the 40 mph zone saw the highest number of crashes with 39 incidents, up from 33 in 2022. Crashes in the 50 mph zone tripled from 6 to 18, while incidents in the 65 mph zone decreased from 30 to 21. Notably, there were no fatal crashes in any speed zone in 2023, compared to 2022 which recorded one fatality each in the 25 mph and 35 mph zones.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · 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: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: SUTTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 168
  • Total persons involved: 324
  • Total vehicles involved: 273

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). "SUTTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/sutton/2023-annual-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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Sutton, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com