ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · WALES, MA · 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/wales/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
7 CRASHES IN
WALES, MA
2023
In 2023, Wales recorded 7 traffic crashes, a 12.5% decrease from the 8 crashes reported in 2022. Total injuries also declined from 3 to 2, and there were no fatalities in either year. A notable shift was the decrease in crash severity, as 2023 had no serious injury crashes, unlike the prior year, and the proportion of non-injury crashes rose from 50% to 71.4%.
7
▼ -12.5%was 8
Total Crash Events
0
Persons Killed
2
▼ -33.3%was 3
Persons Injured
1
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.
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 collisions in Wales shows a slight improvement year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 12.5%, from 8 in 2022 to 7 in 2023. Similarly, the number of people injured in these incidents fell from 3 to 2, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods.
1
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▼ 0.0% vs prior (1)
The absolute number of hit-and-run incidents remained stable, with one such crash recorded in both 2023 and 2022. However, due to the lower total number of crashes in the current period, the hit-and-run rate increased slightly. The rate rose from 12.5% of all crashes in 2022 to 14.3% in 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Motorists Killed
2
Motorists Injured
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
Temporal crash patterns shifted between the two years. In 2022, the peak days for crashes were Saturday and Sunday with two incidents each, while in 2023, crashes were most frequent on Sunday, Monday, and Friday, also with two incidents each. A distinct hourly peak emerged in 2023 with two crashes at 8 p.m., whereas 2022 saw crashes spread more evenly across the day with no single hour having more than one incident.
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
The overall severity of crashes decreased from 2022 to 2023. While there were no fatal crashes in either year, the proportion of crashes resulting in any injury fell from 37.5% in 2022 to 28.6% in 2023. Notably, a crash involving a serious injury accounted for 12.5% of incidents in 2022, but no such crashes occurred in 2023, leading to an increase in the share of non-injury crashes from 50% to 71.4%.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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 primary contributing factors for crashes shifted significantly year-over-year. In 2022, the leading factor was 'Driving too fast for conditions,' cited in 2 crashes, but this factor was not recorded in any 2023 incidents. Crashes with 'No improper driving' cited increased from 1 in 2022 to 2 in 2023. Factors such as 'Inattention' and 'Physical impairment' each contributed to one crash in 2023 but were not present in the prior year's data.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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
Crashes in 2023 occurred under generally better conditions compared to 2022. The proportion of incidents on non-dry road surfaces dropped from 37.5% in 2022 (including one crash on snow) to 14.3% in 2023. Similarly, crashes in dark or low-light conditions decreased from 75% of the total in 2022 to 57% in 2023.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Top Vehicle Makes (8 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
Sex Distribution (9 persons with recorded sex)
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 changed notably between years. In 2022, 50% of crashes occurred in 30 mph zones, with no incidents recorded in zones above 45 mph. In contrast, 2023 saw a wider distribution, with single crashes across various zones, including one in a 55 mph zone, which was not a factor in the prior year. Fatal rates by speed zone remained at zero for both periods.
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: WALES, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 7
- Total persons involved: 9
- Total vehicles involved: 8
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). "WALES, 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/wales/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved