Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

97 CRASHES IN
WALTHAM, MA
FEBRUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2024

Total crashes in Waltham decreased by 4.0% year-over-year, from 101 crashes in February 2024 to 97 crashes in February 2025. Despite this decrease in overall crashes, total injuries increased by 19.0%, rising from 21 to 25. There were no fatal crashes reported in either period.

97

-4.0%was 101

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

25

19.0%was 21

Persons Injured

5

-37.5%was 8

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Waltham saw a slight decline of 4.0% in February 2025 compared to February 2024, with 97 crashes versus 101. However, this period also recorded a notable 19.0% increase in total injuries, rising from 21 to 25. The data indicates a minor reduction in crash frequency but an increase in injury severity.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2025

-37.5% vs prior (8)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 8 incidents in February 2024 to 5 incidents in February 2025. This corresponds to a decrease in the hit-and-run rate from 7.9% of all crashes in the prior period to 5.2% in the current period. The data indicates a downward trend in both the count and rate of hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 20.0%

23

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1921.1%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · 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 February 2024 (18 crashes) to Monday in February 2025 (20 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 5 PM in the prior period (13 crashes) to 12 PM in the current period (10 crashes). This suggests a shift in the timing of peak crash activity from late afternoon to midday.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While no fatal crashes occurred in either period, the number of total injuries increased from 21 in February 2024 to 25 in February 2025, a 19.0% rise. The proportion of "Minor Injury" crashes decreased slightly from 14.9% to 13.4%, but "Possible Injury" crashes increased from 3.0% to 4.1% of all crashes. Additionally, the prior period reported one serious injury crash, while the current period reported none.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury13minor injury crashes13.4%
-13.3%prior 15
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes4.1%
33.3%prior 3
No Injury78no injury crashes80.4%
-1.3%prior 79

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, "Inattention" saw the largest increase, rising from 15 crashes in February 2024 to 24 crashes in February 2025, an increase of 9 incidents. Conversely, "No improper driving" decreased by 4 crashes, from 20 to 16, and "Followed too closely" decreased by 5 crashes, from 8 to 3. "Driving too fast for conditions" also emerged as a factor in the current period with 4 crashes, compared to 0 in the prior period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention24 (24.7%)60.0%prior 15
No improper driving16 (16.5%)-20.0%prior 20
Failed to yield right of way13 (13.4%)0.0%prior 13
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings7 (7.2%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (5.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions4 (4.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (3.1%)
Followed too closely3 (3.1%)-62.5%prior 8
Distracted2 (2.1%)
Made an improper turn2 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in "Clear" weather conditions decreased from 76 in February 2024 to 47 in February 2025, while crashes in "Cloudy" conditions increased from 17 to 22. There was a notable increase in crashes during "Snow" conditions, rising from 1 to 6, and "Wet" road surface crashes, increasing from 6 to 16. Crashes on "Dry" road surfaces decreased from 94 to 64.

Weather

Clear47 (48.5%)
-38.2%prior 76
Cloudy22 (22.7%)
29.4%prior 17
Snow6 (6.2%)
Clear/Clear6 (6.2%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)4 (4.1%)
Rain4 (4.1%)
Snow/Cloudy2 (2.1%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (1.0%)
Rain/Snow1 (1.0%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (1.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight64 (66.7%)
0.0%prior 64
Dark - lighted roadway28 (29.2%)
-6.7%prior 30
Dawn3 (3.1%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (1.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry64 (66.0%)
-31.9%prior 94
Wet16 (16.5%)
166.7%prior 6
Snow11 (11.3%)
Ice3 (3.1%)
Slush3 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes decreased from 269 in February 2024 to 211 in February 2025. The 35-44 age group saw a decrease of 10 persons involved, from 39 to 29, and the 55-64 age group decreased by 8 persons, from 25 to 17. Among vehicle makes, SUBARU vehicles involved in crashes decreased significantly from 18 to 7, while TOYOTA vehicles saw a slight increase from 42 to 43.

Top Vehicle Makes (187 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA43 (23%)
2.4%prior 42
2
FORD22 (11.8%)
-12.0%prior 25
3
HONDA22 (11.8%)
-12.0%prior 25
4
NISSAN12 (6.4%)
0.0%prior 12
5
CHEVROLET10 (5.3%)
25.0%prior 8
6
JEEP8 (4.3%)
33.3%prior 6
7
SUBARU7 (3.7%)
-61.1%prior 18
8
KIA7 (3.7%)
40.0%prior 5
9
VOLKSWAGEN6 (3.2%)
10
BMW5 (2.7%)
0.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (191 persons with recorded sex)

Male120 (62.8%)
-7.7%prior 130
Female71 (37.2%)
-14.5%prior 83

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 25 mph speed zones increased from 37 in February 2024 to 47 in February 2025, an increase of 10 crashes. Conversely, crashes in 30 mph speed zones saw a substantial decrease from 39 to 21, a reduction of 18 crashes. The number of crashes in 55 mph speed zones remained stable at 9 for both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · 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: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: WALTHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 97
  • Total persons involved: 211
  • Total vehicles involved: 187

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). "WALTHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/waltham/february-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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Waltham, MA Crash Report — February 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com