Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

135 CRASHES IN
AVON LAKE, OH
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Avon Lake, total crashes increased by 3.05%, from 131 in 2022 to 135 in 2023. A notable shift was the increase in total fatalities, which rose from 0 in 2022 to 1 in 2023. Additionally, total injuries saw a substantial increase of 31.03% year-over-year.

135

3.1%was 131

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

38

31.0%was 29

Persons Injured

13

85.7%was 7

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.

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash metrics in Avon Lake show an upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 3.05%, from 131 to 135. Fatalities rose from 0 in 2022 to 1 in 2023, while total injuries increased by 31.03%, from 29 to 38.

13

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

85.7% vs prior (7)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly year-over-year, rising from 7 incidents in 2022 to 13 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also increased, moving from 5.3% of all crashes in 2022 to 9.6% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

37

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2927.6%

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv 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 peak day for crashes remained Tuesday for both years, with 28 crashes in 2022 and 27 in 2023. However, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 11a with 15 crashes in 2022 to 6p with 14 crashes in 2023. This indicates a change in the busiest time for crash occurrences.

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in 2022 to 1 in 2023, and total injuries rose from 29 to 38. While serious injuries decreased from 2 to 1, minor injuries increased from 6 to 11, and possible injuries increased from 11 to 16.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.7%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.7%
-50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury11minor injury crashes8.1%
83.3%prior 6
Possible Injury16possible injury crashes11.9%
45.5%prior 11
No Injury106no injury crashes78.5%
-5.4%prior 112

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 79 to 93, while those in cloudy conditions decreased from 36 to 27. Crashes on dry road surfaces remained stable, increasing slightly from 110 to 112. Crashes in dark-lighted roadway conditions increased from 27 to 33.

Weather

Clear93 (68.9%)
17.7%prior 79
Cloudy27 (20.0%)
-25.0%prior 36
Rain9 (6.7%)
-18.2%prior 11
Snow5 (3.7%)
Fog; Smog; Smoke1 (0.7%)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight89 (65.9%)
1.1%prior 88
Dark - Lighted Roadway33 (24.4%)
22.2%prior 27
Dawn/Dusk7 (5.2%)
-36.4%prior 11
Dark - Roadway Not Lighted4 (3.0%)
Dark - Unknown Roadway Lighting1 (0.7%)
Other/Unknown1 (0.7%)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry112 (83.0%)
1.8%prior 110
Wet16 (11.9%)
-5.9%prior 17
Snow4 (3.0%)
Ice3 (2.2%)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The age distribution of persons involved in crashes showed shifts, with the 0-15 age group decreasing from 51 to 33, and the 16-20 age group decreasing from 56 to 45. Conversely, the 45-54 age group increased from 43 to 49. Ford remained the top vehicle make involved, though its count decreased from 53 to 45.

Top Vehicle Makes (254 vehicles)

1
FORD45 (17.7%)
-15.1%prior 53
2
CHEVROLET27 (10.6%)
8.0%prior 25
3
HONDA23 (9.1%)
-17.9%prior 28
4
NISSAN16 (6.3%)
-5.9%prior 17
5
TOYOTA13 (5.1%)
-7.1%prior 14
6
JEEP13 (5.1%)
-18.8%prior 16
7
HYUNDAI11 (4.3%)
10.0%prior 10
8
GMC11 (4.3%)
22.2%prior 9
9
SUBARU9 (3.5%)
28.6%prior 7
10
MAZDA8 (3.1%)
33.3%prior 6

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (303 persons with recorded sex)

Female154 (50.8%)
-2.5%prior 158
Male149 (49.2%)
-8.6%prior 163

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS), accessed programmatically via the Csv 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: Csv 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: July 5, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: Avon Lake, OH
  • Total crash records analyzed: 135
  • Total persons involved: 309
  • Total vehicles involved: 254

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). "Avon Lake, OH Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published July 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS), Csv Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/ohio/avon-lake/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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Avon Lake, OH Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com