Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

150 CRASHES IN
NEWTON, MA
DECEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2024

Total crashes in Newton, MA decreased by 9.6% year-over-year, from 166 in December 2024 to 150 in December 2025. A notable shift was the increase in pedestrian crashes, which rose from 0 in the prior period to 7 in the current period. Additionally, the number of hit-and-run crashes increased by 15% from 20 to 23.

150

-9.6%was 166

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

29

-6.5%was 31

Persons Injured

23

15.0%was 20

Hit-and-Run Crashes

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Newton, MA decreased year-over-year, with total crashes falling from 166 in December 2024 to 150 in December 2025. This represents a reduction of 16 crashes, or approximately 9.6%.

23

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2025

15.0% vs prior (20)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 20 in December 2024 to 23 in December 2025. This change represents a 15% increase in the number of hit-and-run incidents. The hit-and-run rate also increased from 12.0% of all crashes to 15.3% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 3-66.7%

22

Motorists Injured

Prior: 28-21.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Friday in December 2024 (45 crashes) to Monday in December 2025 (27 crashes). The peak hour also changed, moving from 6 PM (18 crashes) in the prior period to 5 PM (15 crashes) in the current period. Friday crashes saw a significant decrease from 45 to 21 year-over-year.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either December 2024 or December 2025. Total injuries decreased slightly from 31 to 29 year-over-year. However, serious injuries (Severity A) increased from 1 (0.6% of crashes) to 3 (2.0% of crashes), and minor injuries (Severity B) increased from 12 (7.2% of crashes) to 21 (14.0% of crashes).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury3serious injury crashes2%
200.0%prior 1
Minor Injury21minor injury crashes14%
75.0%prior 12
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes0.7%
-90.9%prior 11
No Injury114no injury crashes76%
-13.0%prior 131

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'Inattention,' decreased from 44 crashes to 34 crashes year-over-year, a reduction of 10 crashes. 'Followed too closely' also saw a decrease in count from 19 to 15 crashes. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' increased from 8 crashes to 12 crashes, and 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased from 6 crashes to 10 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention34 (22.7%)-22.7%prior 44
No improper driving24 (16%)-7.7%prior 26
Followed too closely15 (10%)-21.1%prior 19
Failed to yield right of way12 (8%)50.0%prior 8
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road10 (6.7%)66.7%prior 6
Driving too fast for conditions6 (4%)-14.3%prior 7
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (3.3%)0.0%prior 5
Glare5 (3.3%)
Made an improper turn3 (2%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (2%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions remained stable at 87 in the current period compared to 86 in the prior period. Crashes during 'Snow' conditions significantly decreased from 15 to 5, while 'Rain' related crashes increased from 7 to 11. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased from 102 to 108, whereas crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces decreased from 30 to 25.

Weather

Clear87 (58.8%)
1.2%prior 86
Clear/Clear19 (12.8%)
5.6%prior 18
Cloudy13 (8.8%)
44.4%prior 9
Rain11 (7.4%)
57.1%prior 7
Snow5 (3.4%)
-66.7%prior 15
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (2.0%)
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (2.0%)
Snow/Snow2 (1.4%)
Cloudy/Snow1 (0.7%)
Rain/Rain1 (0.7%)

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

Lighting

Daylight79 (53.0%)
-13.2%prior 91
Dark - lighted roadway58 (38.9%)
-1.7%prior 59
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (4.0%)
-14.3%prior 7
Dusk4 (2.7%)
-33.3%prior 6
Dawn1 (0.7%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.7%)

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

Road Surface

Dry108 (72.5%)
5.9%prior 102
Wet25 (16.8%)
-16.7%prior 30
Snow9 (6.0%)
-55.0%prior 20
Ice5 (3.4%)
-37.5%prior 8
Slush1 (0.7%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 312 in December 2024 to 273 in December 2025. Toyota remained the most frequently involved make, though its count decreased from 64 to 53. The 26-34 age group saw a decrease in persons involved from 73 to 53, while the number of females involved in crashes decreased from 160 to 128.

Top Vehicle Makes (273 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA53 (19.4%)
-17.2%prior 64
2
HONDA30 (11%)
-6.3%prior 32
3
FORD25 (9.2%)
-21.9%prior 32
4
CHEVROLET15 (5.5%)
25.0%prior 12
5
SUBARU15 (5.5%)
-21.1%prior 19
6
NISSAN12 (4.4%)
0.0%prior 12
7
LEXUS11 (4%)
0.0%prior 11
8
JEEP8 (2.9%)
-38.5%prior 13
9
MERCEDES-BENZ8 (2.9%)
0.0%prior 8
10
TESL7 (2.6%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (302 persons with recorded sex)

Male174 (57.6%)
-0.6%prior 175
Female128 (42.4%)
-20.0%prior 160

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

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone for either period. The majority of crashes continued to occur in 25 mph zones, with a slight decrease from 85 to 82 crashes. Crashes in 30 mph zones decreased from 30 to 18, while crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 10 to 13.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-12-01 through 2025-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: NEWTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 150
  • Total persons involved: 340
  • Total vehicles involved: 273

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