Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

199 CRASHES IN
WINCHENDON, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

Total crashes in Winchendon decreased from 240 in 2022 to 199 in 2023, a 17.1% reduction. While overall crashes, injuries, and fatalities fell, the most notable shift was a significant decrease in crashes attributed to inattention, which dropped from 31 incidents to 15.

199

-17.1%was 240

Total Crash Events

1

-50.0%was 2

Persons Killed

62

-20.5%was 78

Persons Injured

6

50.0%was 4

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 Winchendon showed a downward trend year-over-year. The total number of crashes decreased by 17.1%, from 240 incidents in the prior year to 199 in the current year. This represents a net reduction of 41 crashes.

6

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

50.0% vs prior (4)

The number of hit-and-run incidents increased from 4 in the prior year to 6 in the current year, a 50% rise in the raw count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of total crashes also trended upward, increasing from 1.7% to 3.0% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2-50.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

59

Motorists Injured

Prior: 74-20.3%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 0%

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 the current year, the peak day for crashes was Friday with 36 incidents, and the peak hour was 5 PM with 19 incidents. This contrasts with the prior year, which saw Wednesday as the peak day (40 crashes) and 2 PM as the peak hour (24 crashes).

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 severity of crashes saw a notable improvement year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes decreased from 2 to 1, and the total number of injuries dropped from 78 to 62. The count of serious injury crashes also fell from 11 in the prior period to 6 in the current period. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries remained stable at approximately 76% in both years.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.5%
-50.0%prior 2
Serious Injury6serious injury crashes3%
-45.5%prior 11
Minor Injury33minor injury crashes16.6%
-8.3%prior 36
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes2%
-50.0%prior 8
No Injury151no injury crashes75.9%
-16.6%prior 181

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

A comparison of contributing factors shows a significant drop in several key areas, based on crash counts. Crashes attributed to "Failed to yield right of way" decreased from 37 to 23, and those linked to "Inattention" fell from 31 to 15. Conversely, the count of crashes where "No improper driving" was cited increased from 74 to 82, making it the top factor by a wider margin in the current year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving82 (41.2%)10.8%prior 74
Failed to yield right of way23 (11.6%)-37.8%prior 37
Inattention15 (7.5%)-51.6%prior 31
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner11 (5.5%)-38.9%prior 18
Fatigued/asleep8 (4%)
Distracted6 (3%)0.0%prior 6
Driving too fast for conditions6 (3%)-33.3%prior 9
Followed too closely4 (2%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road4 (2%)-42.9%prior 7
Exceeded authorized speed limit3 (1.5%)

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

Crash conditions saw some shifts between the two periods. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight decreased from 72.5% of all crashes in the prior year to 62.8% in the current year. Correspondingly, the share of crashes in dark conditions (both lighted and unlighted roadways) increased from 22.5% to 27.6%. The distribution of crashes across different weather and road surface conditions remained largely consistent year-over-year.

Weather

Clear127 (64.1%)
-22.6%prior 164
Cloudy28 (14.1%)
40.0%prior 20
Rain10 (5.1%)
-33.3%prior 15
Clear/Cloudy7 (3.5%)
-12.5%prior 8
Cloudy/Snow5 (2.5%)
Snow4 (2.0%)
-69.2%prior 13
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)4 (2.0%)
Cloudy/Rain4 (2.0%)
-63.6%prior 11
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (1.5%)
Fog, smog, smoke2 (1.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight125 (62.8%)
-28.2%prior 174
Dark - lighted roadway29 (14.6%)
26.1%prior 23
Dark - roadway not lighted26 (13.1%)
-16.1%prior 31
Dawn11 (5.5%)
Dusk8 (4.0%)
14.3%prior 7

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

Road Surface

Dry138 (69.7%)
-18.3%prior 169
Wet39 (19.7%)
-4.9%prior 41
Snow12 (6.1%)
-25.0%prior 16
Ice5 (2.5%)
-50.0%prior 10
Slush3 (1.5%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.5%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes saw a shift in rankings. Toyota became the most common make with 52 vehicles involved, up from second place in the prior year (51 vehicles). Ford, the previous leader with 62 vehicles, dropped to second with 48. In terms of persons involved, the share of individuals in the 26-34 age group increased from 14.7% to 18.6%, while the shares for both the 16-20 and 65+ age groups decreased.

Top Vehicle Makes (316 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA52 (16.5%)
2.0%prior 51
2
FORD48 (15.2%)
-22.6%prior 62
3
CHEVROLET36 (11.4%)
-2.7%prior 37
4
SUBARU27 (8.5%)
-12.9%prior 31
5
HONDA23 (7.3%)
-50.0%prior 46
6
NISSAN14 (4.4%)
-22.2%prior 18
7
JEEP13 (4.1%)
8
GMC12 (3.8%)
9.1%prior 11
9
HYUNDAI11 (3.5%)
-35.3%prior 17
10
KIA10 (3.2%)
11.1%prior 9

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

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

Sex Distribution (374 persons with recorded sex)

Male214 (57.2%)
-17.4%prior 259
Female160 (42.8%)
-25.9%prior 216

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, with a notable decrease in incidents in 30 mph zones from 70 crashes in the prior year to 37 in the current year. Fatal crashes also occurred in different zones; the current year's single fatal crash was in a 45 mph zone. This contrasts with the prior year, where the two fatal crashes both occurred in 50 mph zones.

Fatal crashes by zone: 45 mph: 1 of 12 (8.333%)

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: WINCHENDON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 199
  • Total persons involved: 392
  • Total vehicles involved: 316

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). "WINCHENDON, 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/winchendon/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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Winchendon, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com