Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

258 CRASHES IN
WAYLAND, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In Wayland, total traffic crashes increased by 38.7% from 186 in 2022 to 258 in 2023. While the number of fatalities remained at zero for both years, total injuries rose from 75 to 88. A notable shift occurred in driver behavior, with crashes attributed to 'Distracted' driving increasing from 1 in the prior year to 15 in the current year.

258

38.7%was 186

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

88

17.3%was 75

Persons Injured

9

80.0%was 5

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 · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Traffic collisions in Wayland showed a significant upward trend year-over-year. The total number of crashes increased by 38.7%, rising from 186 in 2022 to 258 in 2023. This was accompanied by a 17.3% increase in the number of people injured, which grew from 75 to 88 over the same period.

9

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

80.0% vs prior (5)

Hit-and-run incidents increased in both count and as a percentage of total crashes. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose from 5 in 2022 to 9 in 2023. The corresponding hit-and-run rate increased from 2.7% to 3.5% of all crashes, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-66.7%

4

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 2100.0%

83

Motorists Injured

Prior: 6723.9%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · 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 2022, the peak day for crashes was Friday with 37 incidents, and the peak hour was 8 a.m. with 20 crashes. In 2023, the peak day shifted to Tuesday with 52 crashes, and the peak hour moved to the afternoon commute at 4 p.m., which saw 28 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While there were no fatal crashes in either 2022 or 2023, the number of injuries increased from 75 to 88. The count of serious injury crashes doubled from 2 to 4 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes involving no injuries remained stable, accounting for 71.5% of incidents in 2022 and 71.7% in 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury4serious injury crashes1.6%
100.0%prior 2
Minor Injury44minor injury crashes17.1%
69.2%prior 26
Possible Injury14possible injury crashes5.4%
-39.1%prior 23
No Injury185no injury crashes71.7%
39.1%prior 133

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors remained consistent, though their counts changed. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased in count from 38 to 43, while those citing 'Failed to yield right of way' grew from 22 to 34, a 54.5% increase in count. Most notably, crashes involving a 'Distracted' driver increased from just 1 in 2022 to 15 in 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving56 (21.7%)36.6%prior 41
Inattention43 (16.7%)13.2%prior 38
Failed to yield right of way34 (13.2%)54.5%prior 22
Followed too closely23 (8.9%)0.0%prior 23
Distracted15 (5.8%)
Other improper action11 (4.3%)
Fatigued/asleep10 (3.9%)42.9%prior 7
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner7 (2.7%)
Visibility obstructed7 (2.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway6 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in daylight and on dry roads remained the most common scenarios in both years. However, there was a notable increase in crashes on wet roads, which more than doubled from 21 in 2022 to 48 in 2023. As a proportion of all crashes, incidents on wet surfaces increased from 11.3% in the prior year to 18.6% in the current year.

Weather

Clear142 (55.5%)
115.2%prior 66
Clear/Cloudy36 (14.1%)
56.5%prior 23
Cloudy15 (5.9%)
114.3%prior 7
Rain14 (5.5%)
180.0%prior 5
Clear/Clear11 (4.3%)
-77.1%prior 48
Rain/Cloudy7 (2.7%)
Cloudy/Rain6 (2.3%)
-25.0%prior 8
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)5 (2.0%)
Snow/Cloudy5 (2.0%)
Snow4 (1.6%)
-55.6%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight187 (73.0%)
34.5%prior 139
Dark - lighted roadway27 (10.5%)
22.7%prior 22
Dark - roadway not lighted22 (8.6%)
100.0%prior 11
Dusk11 (4.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting5 (2.0%)
0.0%prior 5
Dawn3 (1.2%)
Other1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry190 (74.8%)
31.0%prior 145
Wet48 (18.9%)
128.6%prior 21
Snow14 (5.5%)
27.3%prior 11
Slush1 (0.4%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota and Honda were the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes in both years. A significant demographic shift was observed in the age of persons involved in crashes; the number of individuals in the 16-20 age group more than doubled, increasing from 34 in 2022 to 75 in 2023. The 45-54 age group had the highest number of involved persons in both periods.

Top Vehicle Makes (459 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA89 (19.4%)
39.1%prior 64
2
HONDA52 (11.3%)
15.6%prior 45
3
FORD41 (8.9%)
46.4%prior 28
4
BMW27 (5.9%)
145.5%prior 11
5
SUBARU24 (5.2%)
33.3%prior 18
6
NISSAN24 (5.2%)
50.0%prior 16
7
CHEVROLET23 (5%)
43.8%prior 16
8
JEEP21 (4.6%)
0.0%prior 21
9
AUDI17 (3.7%)
70.0%prior 10
10
HYUNDAI16 (3.5%)
60.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (502 persons with recorded sex)

Male268 (53.4%)
31.4%prior 204
Female234 (46.6%)
33.0%prior 176

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes predominantly occurred in 25 mph and 35 mph zones in both years. The number of crashes in 25 mph zones more than doubled, increasing from 48 in 2022 to 103 in 2023. Collisions in 35 mph zones also rose from 46 to 68. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone for either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · 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: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: WAYLAND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 258
  • Total persons involved: 537
  • Total vehicles involved: 459

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). "WAYLAND, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wayland/2023-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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Wayland, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com