Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

27 CRASHES IN
WINCHENDON, MA
JANUARY 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2022

Total crashes in Winchendon increased from 20 in January 2022 to 27 in January 2023, representing a 35% rise year-over-year. This period also saw a notable increase in crashes attributed to inattention, which more than doubled. Fatalities remained at zero in both comparative periods.

27

35.0%was 20

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

-14.3%was 7

Persons Injured

0

Fatal Crash Events

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is 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

Overall, crashes in January 2023 increased by 35% compared to January 2022, rising from 20 to 27 incidents. While total crashes rose, the number of total injuries decreased slightly from 7 to 6, a 14.3% reduction. There were no traffic fatalities reported in either January 2022 or January 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 7-14.3%

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 Wednesday in January 2022, with 5 crashes, to Friday in January 2023, with 8 crashes. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 8 AM in January 2022, which saw 4 crashes, to 3 PM in January 2023, also with 4 crashes. This indicates a shift in the timing of peak crash activity.

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 remained at zero in both January 2022 and January 2023. Crashes resulting in serious injuries increased from 1 (5% of total crashes) in the prior period to 2 (7.4% of total crashes) in the current period. The overall number of injuries decreased from 7 in January 2022 to 6 in January 2023, a 14.3% decrease.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes7.4%
100.0%prior 1
No Injury24no injury crashes88.9%
50.0%prior 16

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 leading contributing factor, "No improper driving," increased from 7 crashes in January 2022 to 10 crashes in January 2023, a 42.9% increase in count. "Inattention" saw a substantial increase, rising from 2 crashes to 5 crashes (a 150% increase in count), while "Driving too fast for conditions" also increased from 3 crashes to 5 crashes (a 66.7% increase in count). Conversely, "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" decreased from 2 crashes to 0 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving10 (37%)42.9%prior 7
Inattention5 (18.5%)
Driving too fast for conditions5 (18.5%)
Operating defective equipment1 (3.7%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (3.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (3.7%)
Distracted1 (3.7%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (3.7%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (3.7%)

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 decreased from 13 in January 2022 to 10 in January 2023. Notably, crashes on snow-covered roads increased significantly from 2 to 9, and crashes under "Dark - lighted roadway" conditions quadrupled from 2 to 8. This suggests a shift towards more crashes occurring in adverse road conditions and during darker, but lit, hours.

Weather

Clear10 (37.0%)
-23.1%prior 13
Cloudy/Snow4 (14.8%)
Snow3 (11.1%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (7.4%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (7.4%)
Cloudy2 (7.4%)
Rain2 (7.4%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Snow1 (3.7%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Blowing sand, snow1 (3.7%)

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

Lighting

Daylight16 (59.3%)
-5.9%prior 17
Dark - lighted roadway8 (29.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (11.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry10 (37.0%)
11.1%prior 9
Snow9 (33.3%)
Slush3 (11.1%)
Wet3 (11.1%)
Ice2 (7.4%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (40 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET6 (15%)
20.0%prior 5
2
TOYOTA4 (10%)
-42.9%prior 7
3
SUBARU4 (10%)
4
GMC3 (7.5%)
5
DODGE3 (7.5%)
6
FORD3 (7.5%)
7
VOLVO2 (5%)
8
HYUNDAI2 (5%)
9
HONDA2 (5%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN2 (5%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (47 persons with recorded sex)

Male30 (63.8%)
11.1%prior 27
Female17 (36.2%)
-22.7%prior 22

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

Crashes in the 35 mph speed zone saw a significant increase, rising from 1 crash in January 2022 to 9 crashes in January 2023. Crashes in the 30 mph zone slightly decreased from 7 to 6, while those in the 50 mph zone remained constant at 4 incidents in both periods. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone during either period.

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: WINCHENDON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 27
  • Total persons involved: 49
  • Total vehicles involved: 40

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: 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/winchendon/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

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Winchendon, MA Crash Report — January 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com