ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · WORCESTER, MA · AUGUST 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/worcester/august-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
421 CRASHES IN
WORCESTER, MA
AUGUST 2023
Total crashes in Worcester increased by 7.39%, from 392 in August 2022 to 421 in August 2023. Concurrently, total fatalities decreased by 66.67%, falling from 3 to 1 during the same period. This significant reduction in fatalities is the most notable year-over-year shift.
421
▲ 7.4%was 392
Total Crash Events
1
▼ -66.7%was 3
Persons Killed
141
▲ 4.4%was 135
Persons Injured
87
▼ -2.2%was 89
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. 48 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
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 trend for August indicates an increase in total crashes and injuries but a decrease in fatalities year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 7.39%, from 392 to 421, while total injuries increased by 4.44%, from 135 to 141. Conversely, total fatalities saw a substantial 66.67% decrease, dropping from 3 to 1.
87
Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023
▼ -2.2% vs prior (89)
Hit-and-run crashes decreased slightly year-over-year, from 89 incidents in August 2022 to 87 in August 2023, representing a 2.25% decrease in count. The hit-and-run rate also declined by 2 percentage points, moving from 22.7% of all crashes in August 2022 to 20.7% in August 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
4
Pedestrians Injured
7
Cyclists Injured
126
Motorists Injured
4
Other Injured
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 temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Monday in August 2022 (67 crashes) to Tuesday in August 2023 (72 crashes). The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 2 PM in August 2022 (37 crashes) to 4 PM in August 2023 (45 crashes). This indicates a shift in the busiest times for crash incidents.
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
The severity distribution of crashes changed, with a notable 66.67% decrease in fatal crashes, from 3 (0.8% share) in August 2022 to 1 (0.2% share) in August 2023. Serious injury crashes (A) also decreased from 10 (2.6% share) to 8 (1.9% share). Conversely, minor injury crashes (B) increased from 51 (13% share) to 69 (16.4% share), and no-injury crashes (O) increased from 219 (55.9% share) to 264 (62.7% share).
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
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
Several contributing factors showed changes in crash counts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" increased by 9, from 13 to 22. "Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner" crashes increased by 7, from 9 to 16. In contrast, crashes due to "Followed too closely" decreased by 9, from 30 to 21.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
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 wet road surface conditions saw a significant increase, rising from 22 in August 2022 to 76 in August 2023. Clear weather conditions remained the most common, though the count decreased slightly from 326 to 308 crashes. There was also an increase in crashes during dark-lighted roadway conditions, from 57 to 73.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
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 increased from 791 to 829 year-over-year. Toyota and Honda remained the top two vehicle makes involved, with Toyota increasing from 133 to 155 and Honda from 85 to 108. The 16-20 and 21-25 age groups saw increases in persons involved in crashes, with the 16-20 group rising from 57 to 96 and the 21-25 group from 82 to 132.
Top Vehicle Makes (829 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records
179 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (861 persons with recorded sex)
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 the 30 mph speed zone increased from 64 to 93, with fatal crashes in this zone decreasing from 1 to 0. Crashes in the 65 mph speed zone decreased from 15 to 7, with no fatal crashes reported in either period for this zone. The 50 mph speed zone saw a slight decrease in crashes from 29 to 28, and fatal crashes in this zone decreased from 1 to 0.
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: WORCESTER, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 421
- Total persons involved: 1,045
- Total vehicles involved: 829
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). "WORCESTER, 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/worcester/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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2023-08-01 – 2023-08-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved