Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

161 CRASHES IN
WARE, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In 2025, Ware recorded 161 total crashes, a 16.6% decrease from the 193 crashes reported in 2024. While overall collisions declined, the number of hit-and-run incidents increased significantly, rising from 4 in the prior year to 14 in the current period.

161

-16.6%was 193

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

38

-7.3%was 41

Persons Injured

14

250.0%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. 7 crashes with unreported severity are 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

Overall, traffic crashes in Ware showed a downward trend year-over-year. The total number of collisions fell from 193 in 2024 to 161 in 2025, representing a 16.6% decrease in reported incidents.

14

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

250.0% vs prior (4)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased substantially year-over-year. In 2025, there were 14 hit-and-run incidents, a 250% increase from the 4 recorded in 2024. The hit-and-run rate, which measures the percentage of total crashes that were hit-and-runs, also rose sharply from 2.1% in the prior period to 8.7% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

35

Motorists Injured

Prior: 40-12.5%

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, the peak day for crashes was Friday with 29 incidents, a change from 2024 when Tuesday was the peak day with 41 crashes. The busiest hour for collisions also moved slightly, from 4 p.m. in the prior year (22 crashes) to 5 p.m. in the current year (16 crashes).

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

Crash severity outcomes were mixed. The number of fatal crashes dropped from one in 2024 to zero in 2025. However, the number of crashes resulting in a serious injury increased from one (0.5% of all crashes) in the prior period to five (3.1% of all crashes) in the current period. The overall proportion of crashes involving any level of injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) rose from 14.5% in 2024 to 17.4% in 2025.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury5serious injury crashes3.1%
400.0%prior 1
Minor Injury18minor injury crashes11.2%
0.0%prior 18
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes3.1%
-44.4%prior 9
No Injury126no injury crashes78.3%
-20.8%prior 159

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 top three contributing factors to crashes remained the same across both years, though their counts decreased. 'No improper driving' was the most common factor, dropping from 80 crashes in 2024 to 65 in 2025. 'Inattention' remained the second-ranked factor, with its count decreasing from 20 to 16, while 'Failed to yield right of way' held the third position, falling from 15 crashes to 12. Notably, crashes attributed to 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' increased from 2 to 5 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving65 (40.4%)-18.8%prior 80
Inattention16 (9.9%)-20.0%prior 20
Failed to yield right of way12 (7.5%)-20.0%prior 15
Followed too closely7 (4.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner7 (4.3%)16.7%prior 6
Visibility obstructed6 (3.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (3.1%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway4 (2.5%)-20.0%prior 5
Driving too fast for conditions3 (1.9%)
Distracted3 (1.9%)-57.1%prior 7

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

Crashes in both periods occurred predominantly in clear weather on dry roads during daylight hours. In 2025, 64.6% of crashes happened in clear weather, compared to 67.4% in 2024. A notable change was the decrease in crashes on snow-covered roads, which fell from 17 incidents in 2024 to 7 in 2025. Collisions on dry road surfaces accounted for 80.1% of the total in the current year, up slightly from a 77.7% share in the prior year.

Weather

Clear104 (64.6%)
-20.0%prior 130
Cloudy13 (8.1%)
-13.3%prior 15
Clear/Unknown8 (5.0%)
-11.1%prior 9
Cloudy/Rain7 (4.3%)
Rain7 (4.3%)
16.7%prior 6
Clear/Clear5 (3.1%)
Cloudy/Snow3 (1.9%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (1.9%)
Clear/Other2 (1.2%)
Snow2 (1.2%)
-71.4%prior 7

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

Lighting

Daylight109 (67.7%)
-19.9%prior 136
Dark - lighted roadway24 (14.9%)
-11.1%prior 27
Dark - roadway not lighted12 (7.5%)
-29.4%prior 17
Dusk11 (6.8%)
22.2%prior 9
Dawn2 (1.2%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (1.2%)
Other1 (0.6%)

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

Road Surface

Dry129 (80.1%)
-14.0%prior 150
Wet21 (13.0%)
5.0%prior 20
Snow7 (4.3%)
-58.8%prior 17
Ice3 (1.9%)
Slush1 (0.6%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota were the top three vehicle makes involved in crashes in both years. In 2025, Toyota (33 vehicles) surpassed Chevrolet (29 vehicles) for the second position, a reversal from 2024 when Chevrolet (44) was second and Toyota (37) was third. An analysis of persons involved in crashes shows a decrease across nearly all age groups, with the only exception being the 55-64 age group, which saw a slight increase from 45 individuals in 2024 to 46 in 2025.

Top Vehicle Makes (274 vehicles)

1
FORD37 (13.5%)
-17.8%prior 45
2
TOYOTA33 (12%)
-10.8%prior 37
3
CHEVROLET29 (10.6%)
-34.1%prior 44
4
JEEP24 (8.8%)
20.0%prior 20
5
NISSAN23 (8.4%)
-8.0%prior 25
6
SUBARU16 (5.8%)
-11.1%prior 18
7
HONDA15 (5.5%)
-54.5%prior 33
8
HYUNDAI12 (4.4%)
-47.8%prior 23
9
DODGE9 (3.3%)
-30.8%prior 13
10
KIA8 (2.9%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (288 persons with recorded sex)

Male162 (56.3%)
-21.7%prior 207
Female126 (43.8%)
-28.4%prior 176

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

The distribution of crashes across speed zones saw some shifts year-over-year. Crashes in 25 mph zones were most frequent in both periods, remaining stable with 48 incidents in 2025 compared to 47 in 2024. The number of crashes in 40 mph zones doubled, increasing from 5 to 10 incidents. The single fatal crash in 2024 occurred in a 45 mph zone; no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in 2025.

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: WARE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 161
  • Total persons involved: 331
  • Total vehicles involved: 274

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). "WARE, 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/ware/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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Ware, MA Crash Report — 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com