Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

42 CRASHES IN
WAKEFIELD, MA
SEPTEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2024

In September 2025, Wakefield experienced 42 total crashes, a 31.3% increase compared to the 32 crashes in September 2024. Total injuries saw a significant rise, increasing by 120% from 5 in the prior period to 11 in the current period.

42

31.3%was 32

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

11

120.0%was 5

Persons Injured

6

50.0%was 4

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a notable increase in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 32 to 42, representing a 31.3% increase. This upward trend is also reflected in the 120% increase in total injuries, from 5 to 11.

6

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2025

50.0% vs prior (4)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 4 in the prior period to 6 in the current period. The hit-and-run rate also saw an increase, rising from 12.5% in September 2024 to 14.3% in September 2025, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4150.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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 in both periods, with 11 crashes in September 2025 compared to 7 in September 2024. The peak hour shifted from 6 PM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 4 PM with 7 crashes in the current period, indicating a change in peak crash timing.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities in either September 2024 or September 2025. Total injuries increased by 120%, from 5 in the prior period to 11 in the current period, with the injury crash rate rising from 15.6% to 26.2%. The current period also saw 1 serious injury crash, which was not present in the prior period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.4%
Minor Injury6minor injury crashes14.3%
50.0%prior 4
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes2.4%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury33no injury crashes78.6%
32.0%prior 25

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among common contributing factors, 'No improper driving' increased by 5 crashes, from 9 to 14, while 'Followed too closely' also increased by 5 crashes, from 2 to 7. 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' rose from 1 to 5 crashes, whereas 'Inattention' decreased by 2 crashes, from 5 to 3.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving14 (33.3%)55.6%prior 9
Followed too closely7 (16.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings5 (11.9%)
Inattention3 (7.1%)-40.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit2 (4.8%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (4.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.4%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (2.4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (2.4%)
Glare1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 25 to 32, while crashes during 'Rain' remained consistent at 2 in both periods. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased from 29 to 39, though crashes on 'Wet' surfaces remained at 3 in both periods. Crashes in 'Daylight' increased from 25 to 35, and those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' increased from 5 to 6.

Weather

Clear32 (76.2%)
28.0%prior 25
Clear/Clear7 (16.7%)
Cloudy1 (2.4%)
Rain1 (2.4%)
Rain/Rain1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight35 (83.3%)
40.0%prior 25
Dark - lighted roadway6 (14.3%)
20.0%prior 5
Dusk1 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry39 (92.9%)
34.5%prior 29
Wet3 (7.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 62 to 84 year-over-year. HONDA vehicles involved in crashes increased from 9 to 11, and FORD vehicles increased from 4 to 10, while TOYOTA vehicles remained at 11. The 16-20 age group saw a substantial increase in persons involved, from 1 in the prior period to 11 in the current period, while the 0-15 age group decreased from 5 to 3.

Top Vehicle Makes (84 vehicles)

1
HONDA11 (13.1%)
22.2%prior 9
2
FORD10 (11.9%)
3
TOYOTA9 (10.7%)
-18.2%prior 11
4
CHEVROLET7 (8.3%)
16.7%prior 6
5
KIA6 (7.1%)
6
NISSAN5 (6%)
7
SUBARU5 (6%)
8
HYUNDAI4 (4.8%)
9
DODGE4 (4.8%)
10
JEEP3 (3.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (81 persons with recorded sex)

Female42 (51.9%)
44.8%prior 29
Male38 (46.9%)
-5.0%prior 40
X / Unspecified1 (1.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones increased by 9, from 13 to 22, and those in 55 mph zones increased by 2, from 12 to 14. Conversely, crashes in 20 mph zones decreased by 2, from 3 to 1, and in 25 mph zones decreased by 1, from 2 to 1. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: WAKEFIELD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 42
  • Total persons involved: 98
  • Total vehicles involved: 84

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: September 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wakefield/september-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 — September 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com