Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

39 CRASHES IN
WAKEFIELD, MA
AUGUST 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2024

In August 2025, Wakefield experienced 39 crashes, marking a 30% increase compared to the 30 crashes recorded in August 2024. Despite the rise in total crashes, the most notable shift was a 100% decrease in fatalities, from 1 in the prior period to 0 in the current period.

39

30.0%was 30

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

12

140.0%was 5

Persons Injured

5

150.0%was 2

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Wakefield increased by 30% year-over-year, rising from 30 in August 2024 to 39 in August 2025. This increase in crash volume was accompanied by a significant 140% rise in total injuries, from 5 to 12, while total fatalities decreased from 1 to 0.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2025

150.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes significantly increased year-over-year, rising from 2 in August 2024 to 5 in August 2025, a 150% increase in count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also rose from 6.7% in the prior period to 12.8% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4175.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · 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 with 9 crashes in August 2024 to Saturday with 10 crashes in August 2025. The peak hour remained 12 PM in both periods, with crashes at this hour increasing from 5 in the prior period to 7 in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The fatal crash rate decreased from 3.33% in August 2024 to 0% in August 2025, with no fatal crashes reported in the current period. Minor injury crashes (severity B) increased from 4 (13.3% of total crashes) to 10 (25.6% of total crashes), while crashes with no injury (severity O) decreased in proportion from 80% to 66.7%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury10minor injury crashes25.6%
150.0%prior 4
No Injury26no injury crashes66.7%
8.3%prior 24

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' saw a substantial increase, rising from 3 in August 2024 to 13 in August 2025, a 333% increase in count. Conversely, crashes where 'Failed to yield right of way' was a factor decreased from 8 to 5, representing a 37.5% drop in count. Crashes due to 'Inattention' also decreased from 5 to 2, a 60% reduction in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving13 (33.3%)
Failed to yield right of way5 (12.8%)-37.5%prior 8
Followed too closely4 (10.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (7.7%)
Inattention2 (5.1%)-60.0%prior 5
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (5.1%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.6%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (2.6%)
Operating defective equipment1 (2.6%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (2.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Clear weather remained the predominant condition for crashes, accounting for 26 crashes in August 2024 and 29 in August 2025. Crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 1 in the prior period to 5 in the current period. Similarly, crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 1 to 3 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear29 (76.3%)
11.5%prior 26
Clear/Clear6 (15.8%)
Rain2 (5.3%)
Cloudy1 (2.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight31 (79.5%)
6.9%prior 29
Dark - lighted roadway5 (12.8%)
Dusk3 (7.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry35 (92.1%)
20.7%prior 29
Wet3 (7.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 58 in August 2024 to 80 in August 2025. Honda became the most frequently involved make with 12 vehicles in the current period, up from 3 in the prior period, surpassing Toyota which decreased from 10 to 6. The 16-20 age group saw a notable increase in persons involved, rising from 8 in August 2024 to 18 in August 2025.

Top Vehicle Makes (80 vehicles)

1
HONDA12 (15%)
2
TOYOTA6 (7.5%)
-40.0%prior 10
3
NISSAN6 (7.5%)
4
BMW5 (6.3%)
5
AUDI5 (6.3%)
6
FORD3 (3.8%)
-66.7%prior 9
7
GMC3 (3.8%)
8
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (3.8%)
9
RAM3 (3.8%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN3 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (80 persons with recorded sex)

Male49 (61.3%)
16.7%prior 42
Female31 (38.8%)
0.0%prior 31

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph speed zones increased from 13 in August 2024 to 21 in August 2025, a 61.5% increase, with the single fatality from the prior period occurring in this zone. Crashes in 55 mph speed zones remained constant at 9 in both periods. No fatalities were recorded in any speed zone in August 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31 · 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: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-08-01 through 2025-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WAKEFIELD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 39
  • Total persons involved: 96
  • Total vehicles involved: 80

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). "WAKEFIELD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-08-01 to 2025-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wakefield/august-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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Wakefield, MA Crash Report — August 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com