Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

69 CRASHES IN
WELLESLEY, MA
DECEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2022

In December 2023, Wellesley experienced 69 crashes, an increase from the 64 crashes reported in December 2022, representing a 7.8% rise. The most significant year-over-year shift was the occurrence of one fatal crash in December 2023, compared to zero fatal crashes in the prior year.

69

7.8%was 64

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

13

Persons Injured

6

200.0%was 2

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates an increase in total crashes, rising from 64 in December 2022 to 69 in December 2023, a 7.8% increase. Fatalities also saw an increase, with one recorded in the current period compared to none in the prior period. Total injuries remained stable year-over-year at 13.

6

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2023

200.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly, from 2 in December 2022 to 6 in December 2023. This resulted in the hit-and-run rate rising from 3.1% to 8.7% of all crashes year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

13

Motorists Injured

Prior: 128.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Sunday with 13 crashes in December 2022 to Friday with 16 crashes in December 2023. The peak hour also changed, moving from 5 PM with 15 crashes in December 2022 to 6 PM with 7 crashes in December 2023. Crashes on Saturdays significantly increased from 4 to 12 year-over-year.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in December 2022 to 1 in December 2023, resulting in a fatal crash rate of 1.4% for the current period. Minor injury crashes saw a slight increase from 9 in December 2022 to 10 in December 2023. Additionally, possible injury crashes, which were 0 in the prior period, accounted for 3 crashes (4.3% of total crashes) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes1.4%
Minor Injury10minor injury crashes14.5%
11.1%prior 9
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes4.3%
No Injury53no injury crashes76.8%
-1.9%prior 54

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'Inattention' crashes increased by 5, from 8 in December 2022 to 13 in December 2023. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' decreased by 8, from 19 to 11. 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' crashes increased from 3 to 8, while 'Followed too closely' crashes remained constant at 7 for both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention13 (18.8%)62.5%prior 8
No improper driving11 (15.9%)-42.1%prior 19
Failed to yield right of way10 (14.5%)11.1%prior 9
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road8 (11.6%)
Followed too closely7 (10.1%)0.0%prior 7
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (5.8%)
Distracted3 (4.3%)
Other improper action2 (2.9%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.9%)
Glare1 (1.4%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 35 in December 2022 to 49 in December 2023. There was a notable absence of snow or ice-related road conditions in December 2023, compared to 12 crashes occurring on 'Ice' or during 'Snow' conditions in December 2022. Crashes during 'Daylight' increased from 28 to 36, while those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' decreased from 30 to 24.

Weather

Clear49 (71.0%)
40.0%prior 35
Cloudy8 (11.6%)
0.0%prior 8
Rain7 (10.1%)
16.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Rain2 (2.9%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds2 (2.9%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.4%)

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

Lighting

Daylight36 (52.2%)
28.6%prior 28
Dark - lighted roadway24 (34.8%)
-20.0%prior 30
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (5.8%)
Dawn3 (4.3%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.4%)
Dusk1 (1.4%)
-80.0%prior 5

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

Road Surface

Dry53 (76.8%)
32.5%prior 40
Wet16 (23.2%)
33.3%prior 12

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes slightly decreased from 135 in December 2022 to 132 in December 2023. Toyota and Honda remained the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes, though their counts slightly decreased. A significant shift was observed in the 0-15 age group, with their representation in persons involved increasing from 6 in December 2022 to 32 in December 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (132 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA21 (15.9%)
-4.5%prior 22
2
HONDA17 (12.9%)
-22.7%prior 22
3
FORD8 (6.1%)
-20.0%prior 10
4
NISSAN7 (5.3%)
0.0%prior 7
5
MERCEDES-BENZ6 (4.5%)
6
VOLVO5 (3.8%)
7
AUDI5 (3.8%)
0.0%prior 5
8
JEEP5 (3.8%)
-28.6%prior 7
9
BMW5 (3.8%)
-28.6%prior 7
10
INFI4 (3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (161 persons with recorded sex)

Male82 (50.9%)
20.6%prior 68
Female79 (49.1%)
5.3%prior 75

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 MPH speed zones increased from 39 in December 2022 to 42 in December 2023. Similarly, crashes in 50 MPH speed zones increased from 15 to 17, with one fatal crash occurring in a 50 MPH zone in December 2023 compared to none in the prior year. Crashes in 40 MPH zones decreased from 4 to 1 year-over-year.

Fatal crashes by zone: 50 mph: 1 of 17 (5.882%)

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WELLESLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 69
  • Total persons involved: 174
  • Total vehicles involved: 132

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