Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

10 CRASHES IN
CHESTER, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In 2025, Chester recorded 10 total traffic crashes, a 66.7% increase from the 6 crashes documented in 2024. While fatalities remained at zero in both years, the number of persons injured rose from one to six. A notable change was the emergence of crashes involving suspected driver alcohol use, which accounted for 2 of the 10 incidents in 2025, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

10

66.7%was 6

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

500.0%was 1

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 · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Crash data for Chester shows an upward trend year-over-year, with total incidents increasing by 66.7% from 6 in 2024 to 10 in 2025. This rise was accompanied by a substantial increase in injuries, which climbed from one to six over the same period. Fatalities remained at zero for both years.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1500.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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 2025, Monday was the most frequent day for crashes with 3 incidents, a change from Saturday being the peak day in 2024 with 3 incidents. The daily pattern also changed, with 2025 crashes concentrating in the early morning hours; 7 of the 10 crashes occurred between midnight and 7 a.m. In contrast, crashes in 2024 were more evenly distributed throughout the day.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While no fatal crashes were recorded in either 2024 or 2025, the severity of crashes increased. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury rose from 16.7% in 2024 to 50% in 2025. In 2025, these incidents included one serious injury, three minor injuries, and one possible injury, compared to a single minor-injury crash in the prior year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes10%
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes30%
200.0%prior 1
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes10%
No Injury4no injury crashes40%
-20.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The primary contributing factors to crashes shifted between the two years. In 2025, 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' was the most common factor, cited in 3 incidents, an increase from 1 incident in 2024. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' decreased in count from 2 in 2024 to 1 in 2025. Factors such as 'Fatigued/asleep' were recorded in 2025 but not in the prior year's data.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (30%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (10%)
No improper driving1 (10%)
Other improper action1 (10%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (10%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (10%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

There was a notable shift in crash conditions year-over-year. Crashes in dark, unlighted conditions increased, accounting for 60% of all incidents in 2025, up from a 33.3% share in 2024. While the majority of crashes in both years occurred on dry roads, the number of incidents on wet, icy, or slushy surfaces doubled from two in 2024 to four in 2025. Similarly, crashes during rain or snow increased from zero in 2024 to three in 2025.

Weather

Clear3 (30.0%)
Clear/Clear2 (20.0%)
Rain2 (20.0%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (10.0%)
Severe crosswinds1 (10.0%)
Snow/Snow1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Dark - roadway not lighted6 (60.0%)
Daylight3 (30.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry6 (60.0%)
Wet3 (30.0%)
Ice1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (10 vehicles)

1
JEEP2 (20%)
2
FORD2 (20%)
3
TOYOTA2 (20%)
4
BMW1 (10%)
5
LAND ROVER AUTO1 (10%)
6
VOLKSWAGEN1 (10%)
7
HONDA1 (10%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (12 persons with recorded sex)

Male8 (66.7%)
14.3%prior 7
Female4 (33.3%)
0.0%prior 4

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Analysis of crashes with recorded speed limits shows a shift toward higher speed zones in 2025. In 2024, all four crashes with this data occurred in zones of 40 mph or less. In contrast, four of the seven crashes with speed limit data in 2025, representing 57%, took place in zones posted at 45 mph or 50 mph. There were no fatalities recorded in any speed zone for either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHESTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 10
  • Total persons involved: 12
  • Total vehicles involved: 10

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). "CHESTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chester/2025-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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Chester, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com