Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

18 CRASHES IN
WAYLAND, MA
MAY 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2023

In May 2024, Wayland, MA experienced a notable decrease in traffic incidents compared to May 2023. Total crashes fell by 35.7%, from 28 to 18, while total injuries saw an even steeper decline of 50%, decreasing from 10 to 5. This marks a significant improvement in overall traffic safety for the period.

18

-35.7%was 28

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

5

-50.0%was 10

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in Wayland, MA for May 2024 shows a significant reduction in traffic crashes and injuries compared to the previous year. Total crashes decreased by 35.7%, from 28 in May 2023 to 18 in May 2024. Similarly, total injuries declined by 50%, falling from 10 to 5, indicating a positive trend in road safety.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 10-50.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted year-over-year; the peak day for crashes moved from Friday with 7 incidents in May 2023 to Wednesday with 6 incidents in May 2024. The peak hour also changed, with 7 AM being the peak in May 2023 (5 crashes) and 3 PM in May 2024 (4 crashes). These changes reflect a general reduction in crash frequency across different times.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either May 2023 or May 2024. Total injuries decreased from 10 in May 2023 to 5 in May 2024. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries remained relatively stable, with 16.7% (3 crashes) in May 2024 compared to 17.9% (5 crashes) in May 2023, while possible injury crashes (1 crash, 3.6%) were reported only in the prior period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes16.7%
-40.0%prior 5
No Injury15no injury crashes83.3%
-31.8%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The count of crashes attributed to 'Inattention' decreased significantly from 7 in May 2023 to 3 in May 2024, representing a 57.1% reduction. Similarly, 'Followed too closely' crashes fell from 5 to 2, a 60% decrease in count. Conversely, crashes where 'No improper driving' was cited increased from 4 to 6, a 50% increase in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving6 (33.3%)
Inattention3 (16.7%)-57.1%prior 7
Followed too closely2 (11.1%)-60.0%prior 5
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5.6%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (5.6%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5.6%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (5.6%)
Distracted1 (5.6%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 21 in May 2023 to 10 in May 2024, and those on dry road surfaces also reduced from 24 to 16. Incidents on wet road surfaces decreased from 4 to 2. The majority of crashes in both periods occurred during daylight hours, with 24 in May 2023 and 15 in May 2024.

Weather

Clear10 (55.6%)
-52.4%prior 21
Clear/Cloudy7 (38.9%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (83.3%)
-37.5%prior 24
Dusk2 (11.1%)
Dark - lighted roadway1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry16 (88.9%)
-33.3%prior 24
Wet2 (11.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (34 vehicles)

1
FORD7 (20.6%)
0.0%prior 7
2
TOYOTA5 (14.7%)
-16.7%prior 6
3
HONDA2 (5.9%)
-71.4%prior 7
4
JEEP2 (5.9%)
5
LEXUS2 (5.9%)
6
VOLKSWAGEN2 (5.9%)
7
CHRYSLER2 (5.9%)
8
NISSAN2 (5.9%)
-66.7%prior 6
9
SUBARU2 (5.9%)
10
ACURA2 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (33 persons with recorded sex)

Male20 (60.6%)
-53.5%prior 43
Female13 (39.4%)
-45.8%prior 24

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period. Crashes at the 30 mph speed limit decreased from 4 in May 2023 to 1 in May 2024, and those at 35 mph declined from 7 to 4. Conversely, crashes at 25 mph saw a slight increase from 7 to 8, while the 65 mph speed zone, which had 5 crashes in May 2023, reported none in May 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31 · 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: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-05-01 through 2024-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WAYLAND, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 18
  • Total persons involved: 35
  • Total vehicles involved: 34

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: May 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wayland/may-2024-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Wayland, MA Crash Report — May 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com