Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

50 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
OCTOBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2024

In October 2025, CHELSEA experienced 50 crashes, marking a 45.05% decrease compared to the 91 crashes recorded in October 2024. The most notable year-over-year shift was this significant reduction in overall crash incidents.

50

-45.1%was 91

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

25

-16.7%was 30

Persons Injured

3

50.0%was 2

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in CHELSEA decreased significantly year-over-year, falling by 41 incidents from 91 in October 2024 to 50 in October 2025. Despite this reduction in total crashes, the number of fatalities remained stable at 1 in both periods, while total injuries decreased from 30 to 25.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2025

50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased by 1 incident, from 2 in October 2024 to 3 in October 2025. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate rose from 2.2% of all crashes in October 2024 to 6% in October 2025.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 5-60.0%

23

Motorists Injured

Prior: 219.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · 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, with 18 crashes in October 2024, to Sunday, with 10 crashes in October 2025. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 3 PM (11 crashes) in the prior period to 2 PM (5 crashes) in the current period, reflecting a general decrease in crash counts across most days and hours.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While the total number of fatalities remained constant at 1 in both periods, the fatal crash rate increased from 1.1% in October 2024 to 2% in October 2025 due to the lower total crash count. The proportion of crashes resulting in injuries also increased, with 50% of crashes involving injuries in October 2025 compared to 33% in October 2024.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes2%
0.0%prior 1
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury8minor injury crashes16%
-46.7%prior 15
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes8%
-42.9%prior 7
No Injury34no injury crashes68%
-47.7%prior 65

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' decreased by 16 incidents, from 31 in October 2024 to 15 in October 2025. 'Failed to yield right of way' remained constant at 3 crashes in both periods, while 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased by 1 incident, from 2 to 3 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving15 (30%)-51.6%prior 31
Failed to yield right of way3 (6%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (4%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (4%)
Other improper action2 (4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (4%)
Made an improper turn1 (2%)
Inattention1 (2%)
Distracted1 (2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Rain' conditions increased by 3 incidents, from 1 in October 2024 to 4 in October 2025, representing a 300% increase. Crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces also increased by 6 incidents, from 3 to 9, while crashes in 'Clear' or 'Clear/Clear' weather decreased from a combined 79 incidents to 32 incidents.

Weather

Clear/Clear18 (40.0%)
200.0%prior 6
Clear14 (31.1%)
-80.8%prior 73
Rain4 (8.9%)
Cloudy2 (4.4%)
-71.4%prior 7
Cloudy/Cloudy2 (4.4%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (4.4%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.2%)
Rain/Rain1 (2.2%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds1 (2.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight29 (58.0%)
-44.2%prior 52
Dark - lighted roadway20 (40.0%)
-35.5%prior 31
Dawn1 (2.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry34 (79.1%)
-60.9%prior 87
Wet9 (20.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 186 in October 2024 to 99 in October 2025. While HONDA was the top make in the prior period with 36 vehicles, TOYOTA led in the current period with 27 vehicles, both experiencing a decrease in involvement. All reported age groups saw a decrease in the number of persons involved in crashes.

Top Vehicle Makes (99 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA27 (27.3%)
-20.6%prior 34
2
HONDA20 (20.2%)
-44.4%prior 36
3
FORD8 (8.1%)
-60.0%prior 20
4
CHEVROLET6 (6.1%)
-50.0%prior 12
5
VOLKSWAGEN4 (4%)
6
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (4%)
7
KIA2 (2%)
8
DODGE2 (2%)
-60.0%prior 5
9
GMC2 (2%)
10
HYUNDAI2 (2%)
-77.8%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (120 persons with recorded sex)

Male79 (65.8%)
-37.3%prior 126
Female41 (34.2%)
-45.3%prior 75

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased from 67 incidents in October 2024 to 35 incidents in October 2025, but a fatal crash occurred in this zone in the current period where none did in the prior. There were no crashes reported in 50 mph speed zones in October 2025, compared to 4 crashes, including 1 fatal crash, in October 2024.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 35 (2.857%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · 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: 2025-10-01 through 2025-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-10-01 through 2025-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 50
  • Total persons involved: 138
  • Total vehicles involved: 99

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). "CHELSEA, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/october-2025-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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Chelsea, MA Crash Report — October 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com