Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

36 CRASHES IN
WALPOLE, MA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

In August 2023, Walpole experienced 36 crashes, a slight decrease from the 38 crashes recorded in August 2022, representing a 5.26% reduction. Despite the decrease in total crashes, the number of total injuries saw a significant increase, rising from 6 in August 2022 to 15 in August 2023, a 150% increase year-over-year. DUI crashes decreased by 50%, from 2 in the prior period to 1 in the current period.

36

-5.3%was 38

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

15

150.0%was 6

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 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 · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the number of crashes in Walpole decreased slightly year-over-year, from 38 crashes in August 2022 to 36 crashes in August 2023, a 5.26% reduction. However, this period saw a substantial increase in total injuries, which rose by 150%, from 6 to 15.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

15

Motorists Injured

Prior: 6150.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Tuesday with 11 crashes in August 2022 to Wednesday with 12 crashes in August 2023. The peak hour for crashes also shifted, moving from 3p with 5 crashes in August 2022 to 5p with 5 crashes in August 2023, maintaining the same peak count.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes in either August 2022 or August 2023. Minor injury crashes (severity B) saw a substantial increase, rising from 3 crashes (7.9% of total) in August 2022 to 8 crashes (22.2% of total) in August 2023. Possible injury crashes (severity C) decreased slightly from 3 crashes (7.9% of total) to 2 crashes (5.6% of total) year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury8minor injury crashes22.2%
166.7%prior 3
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes5.6%
-33.3%prior 3
No Injury26no injury crashes72.2%
-18.8%prior 32

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, "No improper driving," decreased in count from 12 in August 2022 to 8 in August 2023. "Inattention" crashes increased from 4 to 5, while "Failed to yield right of way" remained constant at 4 crashes in both periods. Factors like "Followed too closely" and "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" saw decreases of 1 crash each.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving8 (22.2%)-33.3%prior 12
Inattention5 (13.9%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (11.1%)
Other improper action3 (8.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (5.6%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (5.6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.8%)
Distracted1 (2.8%)
Operating defective equipment1 (2.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 31 in August 2022 to 23 in August 2023, while rain-related crashes (including mixed conditions) increased from 4 to 6. Crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 33 to 29, and crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 5 to 7. Crashes in dark conditions remained stable at 9 for both periods, while daylight crashes decreased from 28 to 26.

Weather

Clear23 (63.9%)
-25.8%prior 31
Cloudy4 (11.1%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (8.3%)
Rain3 (8.3%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (5.6%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight26 (72.2%)
-7.1%prior 28
Dark - lighted roadway7 (19.4%)
0.0%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.8%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (2.8%)
Dusk1 (2.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry29 (80.6%)
-12.1%prior 33
Wet7 (19.4%)
40.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 70 in August 2022 to 69 in August 2023. FORD became the top make involved in crashes, increasing from 9 to 12 vehicles, while TOYOTA dropped from 14 to 10 vehicles. CHEVROLET also saw a notable increase in involvement, from 3 vehicles to 8.

Top Vehicle Makes (69 vehicles)

1
FORD12 (17.4%)
33.3%prior 9
2
TOYOTA10 (14.5%)
-28.6%prior 14
3
HONDA8 (11.6%)
14.3%prior 7
4
CHEVROLET8 (11.6%)
5
HYUNDAI4 (5.8%)
6
JEEP3 (4.3%)
-40.0%prior 5
7
NISSAN3 (4.3%)
8
DODGE3 (4.3%)
9
VOLVO2 (2.9%)
10
KIA2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (78 persons with recorded sex)

Male43 (55.1%)
-23.2%prior 56
Female35 (44.9%)
6.1%prior 33

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 18 in August 2022 to 11 in August 2023. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 4 to 10, and in 40 mph zones from 1 to 8. Crashes in higher speed zones like 45 mph, 55 mph, and 65 mph all decreased year-over-year. No fatal crashes were reported across any speed limit zone in either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WALPOLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 36
  • Total persons involved: 84
  • Total vehicles involved: 69

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). "WALPOLE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/walpole/august-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

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Walpole, MA Crash Report — August 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com