Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

44 CRASHES IN
WELLESLEY, MA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

Total crashes in WELLESLEY, MA significantly increased by 83.3%, rising from 24 in August 2022 to 44 in August 2023. This substantial increase in overall crash incidents is the most notable year-over-year shift. Additionally, total injuries saw a considerable rise, increasing from 3 to 12 over the same period.

44

83.3%was 24

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

12

300.0%was 3

Persons Injured

5

150.0%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 · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a significant increase in crash incidents year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 83.3%, from 24 in August 2022 to 44 in August 2023. This marks a substantial upward trend in crash frequency for the city.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2023

150.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased by 150%, from 2 incidents in August 2022 to 5 in August 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also rose, moving from 8.3% of total crashes in August 2022 to 11.4% in August 2023, indicating an upward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

12

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2500.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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 5 crashes in August 2022 and 15 crashes in August 2023. However, the peak hour shifted from 5 PM with 4 crashes in August 2022 to 12 PM with 6 crashes in August 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at 0 in both August 2022 and August 2023. Total injuries increased from 3 in August 2022 to 12 in August 2023. While the count of serious injuries remained at 1 in both periods, possible injuries, which were 0 in August 2022, accounted for 5 crashes in August 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.3%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 2
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes11.4%
No Injury36no injury crashes81.8%
80.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors saw significant changes year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased from 4 to 13, a 225% increase in count. 'Followed too closely' crashes rose from 1 to 8, marking a 700% increase in count. Conversely, crashes with 'No improper driving' as a factor decreased from 11 to 6, representing a 45.5% decrease in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention13 (29.5%)
Followed too closely8 (18.2%)
No improper driving6 (13.6%)-45.5%prior 11
Failed to yield right of way4 (9.1%)
Other improper action3 (6.8%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (4.5%)
Made an improper turn1 (2.3%)
Glare1 (2.3%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.3%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Clear weather remained the most common condition for crashes in both periods, accounting for 23 crashes in August 2022 and 27 crashes in August 2023. Daylight was the predominant lighting condition for crashes, with 21 incidents in August 2022 and 41 in August 2023. Data for road surface conditions was not available for comparison in August 2022.

Weather

Clear27 (61.4%)
17.4%prior 23
Rain4 (9.1%)
Cloudy4 (9.1%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (6.8%)
Cloudy/Unknown2 (4.5%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (4.5%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight41 (93.2%)
95.2%prior 21
Dark - lighted roadway1 (2.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.3%)
Dusk1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry32 (72.7%)
Wet12 (27.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (93 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA18 (19.4%)
157.1%prior 7
2
JEEP10 (10.8%)
3
FORD7 (7.5%)
4
HONDA7 (7.5%)
5
SUBARU7 (7.5%)
6
MAZDA5 (5.4%)
7
TESL5 (5.4%)
8
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (4.3%)
9
ACURA3 (3.2%)
10
BMW3 (3.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (101 persons with recorded sex)

Female58 (57.4%)
132.0%prior 25
Male43 (42.6%)
186.7%prior 15

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones increased from 9 in August 2022 to 15 in August 2023, a 66.7% increase. Incidents in 50 mph zones also rose significantly, from 6 to 16, representing a 166.7% increase. Crashes in 55 mph zones remained constant at 4 in both periods, and no fatalities were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WELLESLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 44
  • Total persons involved: 111
  • Total vehicles involved: 93

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). "WELLESLEY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wellesley/august-2023-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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Wellesley, MA Crash Report — August 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com