Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

165 CRASHES IN
UPTON, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

Total crashes in Upton rose from 150 in 2022 to 165 in 2023, a 10% increase. Despite the overall rise in collisions, the most notable year-over-year change was a decrease in fatalities, with zero deaths recorded in 2023 compared to one in the prior year. However, the total number of injuries increased by 35.9%, from 39 to 53.

165

10.0%was 150

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

53

35.9%was 39

Persons Injured

5

-37.5%was 8

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. 4 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

Traffic collisions in Upton trended upward year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 10% from 150 to 165. This was accompanied by a 35.9% rise in injuries, from 39 to 53. In a positive development, fatalities decreased from one in 2022 to zero in 2023.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

-37.5% vs prior (8)

Hit-and-run incidents trended downward year-over-year. The total count of hit-and-run crashes fell from 8 in 2022 to 5 in 2023. This corresponded with a decrease in the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all crashes, which dropped from 5.3% to 3.0%.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

52

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3836.8%

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. The peak day for collisions moved from Wednesday (28 crashes) in 2022 to Friday (36 crashes) in 2023. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted an hour later, from 2 PM in the prior year to 3 PM in the current year, with the number of crashes during the peak hour increasing from 13 to 21.

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

While total crashes increased, their severity profile changed. The single fatal crash from 2022 was not repeated in 2023, and the count of serious injury crashes decreased from 4 to 2. This was offset by a rise in less severe injuries, with minor injury crashes increasing from 19 to 29 and possible injury crashes growing from 8 to 12.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes1.2%
-50.0%prior 4
Minor Injury29minor injury crashes17.6%
52.6%prior 19
Possible Injury12possible injury crashes7.3%
50.0%prior 8
No Injury118no injury crashes71.5%
4.4%prior 113

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 ranking of top contributing factors shifted year-over-year. Crashes attributed to "Inattention" increased in count from 22 to 35, making it the leading factor in 2023. Conversely, incidents where drivers "Failed to yield right of way" decreased from 16 to 12. Crashes involving "Followed too closely" also saw a notable increase in count, rising from 11 to 17.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention35 (21.2%)59.1%prior 22
No improper driving32 (19.4%)3.2%prior 31
Followed too closely17 (10.3%)54.5%prior 11
Failed to yield right of way12 (7.3%)-25.0%prior 16
Driving too fast for conditions9 (5.5%)12.5%prior 8
Fatigued/asleep9 (5.5%)28.6%prior 7
Distracted8 (4.8%)0.0%prior 8
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (4.2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner6 (3.6%)
Other improper action4 (2.4%)

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

A larger share of crashes occurred in favorable conditions in 2023 compared to 2022. Crashes on dry roads made up 77% of the total, up from 70.7% in the prior year. Similarly, incidents in daylight increased as a proportion of all crashes, from 72.7% to 78.2%. The absolute number of crashes in the rain was unchanged at 12 incidents in both periods.

Weather

Clear126 (76.8%)
20.0%prior 105
Rain12 (7.3%)
0.0%prior 12
Cloudy8 (4.9%)
-33.3%prior 12
Snow5 (3.0%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)4 (2.4%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (1.8%)
-50.0%prior 6
Clear/Unknown2 (1.2%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.6%)
Snow/Cloudy1 (0.6%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/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

Daylight129 (78.2%)
18.3%prior 109
Dark - lighted roadway18 (10.9%)
-14.3%prior 21
Dark - roadway not lighted9 (5.5%)
-40.0%prior 15
Dusk5 (3.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (1.2%)
Dawn2 (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 (77.0%)
19.8%prior 106
Wet25 (15.2%)
-13.8%prior 29
Snow8 (4.8%)
33.3%prior 6
Ice3 (1.8%)
-57.1%prior 7
Slush2 (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

While the top three vehicle makes involved in crashes (Toyota, Ford, Honda) remained consistent, the age demographics of persons involved shifted. The number of individuals aged 65 and older involved in crashes increased from 28 to 53 year-over-year. In contrast, the number of people in the 16-20 age group involved in crashes decreased from 62 to 48.

Top Vehicle Makes (273 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA50 (18.3%)
16.3%prior 43
2
FORD30 (11%)
-6.3%prior 32
3
HONDA30 (11%)
3.4%prior 29
4
CHEVROLET25 (9.2%)
0.0%prior 25
5
NISSAN13 (4.8%)
18.2%prior 11
6
JEEP11 (4%)
0.0%prior 11
7
KIA10 (3.7%)
66.7%prior 6
8
SUBARU10 (3.7%)
25.0%prior 8
9
HYUNDAI9 (3.3%)
-18.2%prior 11
10
GMC8 (2.9%)
60.0%prior 5

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

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

Sex Distribution (303 persons with recorded sex)

Male172 (56.8%)
6.8%prior 161
Female131 (43.2%)
12.0%prior 117

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

Crashes became more concentrated in lower to mid-range speed zones in 2023. Collisions in 30 mph zones rose from 66 to 77, and crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 22 to 30. The single fatal crash from the prior year occurred in a 30 mph zone; no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in 2023.

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: UPTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 165
  • Total persons involved: 322
  • 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). "UPTON, 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/upton/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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Upton, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com