ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · WALTHAM, MA · JANUARY 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/waltham/january-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
128 CRASHES IN
WALTHAM, MA
JANUARY 2023
In January 2023, Waltham recorded 128 total crashes, a 2.4% increase from the 125 crashes reported in January 2022. A notable shift is the absence of fatalities in January 2023, compared to one fatality in the prior year. Total injuries increased by 30.4% year-over-year, rising from 23 to 30.
128
▲ 2.4%was 125
Total Crash Events
0
▼ -100.0%was 1
Persons Killed
30
▲ 30.4%was 23
Persons Injured
22
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. 9 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 2023-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
The overall trend shows a slight increase in total crashes, rising from 125 in January 2022 to 128 in January 2023, representing a 2.4% increase. Total injuries also saw a significant increase, from 23 to 30, marking a 30.4% rise. However, fatalities decreased from one in January 2022 to zero in January 2023.
22
Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2023
▼ 0.0% vs prior (22)
The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 22 in both January 2022 and January 2023. The hit-and-run rate slightly decreased from 17.6% in January 2022 to 17.2% in January 2023, indicating a marginal downward trend.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Motorists Killed
4
Pedestrians Injured
26
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · 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 Friday with 27 crashes in January 2022 to Monday with 25 crashes in January 2023. The peak hour for crashes remained at 2 PM in both periods, but the count increased from 11 crashes in January 2022 to 17 crashes in January 2023. This indicates a shift in the highest crash frequency from late week to early week, while the peak afternoon hour intensified.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
Fatal crashes decreased from 1 in January 2022 to 0 in January 2023, resulting in a fatal rate reduction from 0.8% to 0%. The proportion of serious injury crashes increased from 7.2% (9 crashes) in January 2022 to 10.2% (13 crashes) in January 2023. Minor injury crashes also increased from 1.6% (2 crashes) to 2.3% (3 crashes), while possible injury crashes remained stable at 8.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The contributing factor 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a substantial increase, rising from 13 crashes in January 2022 to 20 crashes in January 2023, a 53.8% increase in count. Conversely, 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased by 75%, from 8 crashes to 2 crashes, and 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' decreased by 50%, from 8 crashes to 4 crashes. The top factor 'No improper driving' remained constant at 25 crashes in both periods.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 83 in January 2022 to 65 in January 2023, while crashes in rainy conditions increased significantly from 2 to 12. Correspondingly, crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 90 to 75, whereas crashes on wet road surfaces saw a substantial rise from 12 to 32. Crashes occurring in daylight decreased from 82 to 72, while those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions slightly increased from 38 to 40.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 237 in January 2022 to 243 in January 2023. Toyota vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 44 to 31, a 29.5% reduction, while Honda vehicles increased from 22 to 31, a 40.9% rise. The age group 0-15 years saw a significant increase in persons involved, from 5 to 14, an 180% change, and the 35-44 age group increased from 38 to 48, a 26.3% rise.
Top Vehicle Makes (243 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Vehicle unit records
47 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (242 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The number of crashes in 30 mph speed zones increased from 91 in January 2022 to 96 in January 2023, a 5.5% rise. Crashes in 55 mph speed zones decreased from 15 to 13, a 13.3% reduction. There were no fatalities recorded in any speed zone in January 2023, compared to one fatality in the 55 mph zone in January 2022.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · 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 2023-01-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-01-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: WALTHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 128
- Total persons involved: 288
- Total vehicles involved: 243
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). "WALTHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/waltham/january-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: 2023-01-01 – 2023-01-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved