Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

68 CRASHES IN
WELLESLEY, MA
OCTOBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2023

In October 2024, Wellesley experienced 68 total crashes, a 3.03% increase from the 66 crashes recorded in October 2023. The most notable year-over-year shift was in hit-and-run incidents, which more than doubled from 3 crashes in the prior period to 7 crashes in the current period.

68

3.0%was 66

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

10

11.1%was 9

Persons Injured

7

133.3%was 3

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash data for Wellesley shows a slight upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 3.03% from 66 to 68. Total injuries also saw an 11.1% increase, rising from 9 to 10. Fatalities remained stable at 0 in both periods.

7

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2024

133.3% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly year-over-year, rising by 133.3% from 3 incidents in October 2023 to 7 in October 2024. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also saw an upward trend, increasing from 4.5% to 10.3% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 8-37.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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 Tuesday with 16 crashes in October 2023 to Thursday, also with 16 crashes, in October 2024. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 3 p.m. with 7 crashes in the prior period to 5 p.m. with 8 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities in either October 2023 or October 2024. However, the current period saw 2 crashes resulting in serious injuries, a category that had 0 crashes in the prior period. Minor injury crashes increased from 3 to 5, while possible injury crashes decreased from 4 to 2 year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.9%
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes7.4%
66.7%prior 3
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes2.9%
-50.0%prior 4
No Injury57no injury crashes83.8%
-3.4%prior 59

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors shifted, with 'Inattention' crashes increasing by 45.5% from 11 to 16, becoming the most frequent factor. Conversely, 'No improper driving' crashes decreased by 17.6% from 17 to 14. 'Followed too closely' crashes increased by 25%, from 8 to 10, maintaining its position as the third most common factor.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention16 (23.5%)45.5%prior 11
No improper driving14 (20.6%)-17.6%prior 17
Followed too closely10 (14.7%)25.0%prior 8
Failed to yield right of way7 (10.3%)0.0%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (7.4%)
Made an improper turn3 (4.4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway3 (4.4%)
Distracted2 (2.9%)-60.0%prior 5
Glare2 (2.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Adverse weather conditions contributed to fewer crashes in October 2024 compared to the prior year, with crashes occurring during rain or cloudy conditions decreasing from 14 to 6. Specifically, crashes on wet road surfaces saw a significant 70% decrease, falling from 10 to 3. However, crashes occurring during dusk increased from 2 to 5 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear61 (91.0%)
17.3%prior 52
Rain3 (4.5%)
-40.0%prior 5
Cloudy2 (3.0%)
-71.4%prior 7
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight49 (73.1%)
-3.9%prior 51
Dark - lighted roadway8 (11.9%)
-20.0%prior 10
Dusk5 (7.5%)
Dawn2 (3.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (3.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry64 (95.5%)
14.3%prior 56
Wet3 (4.5%)
-70.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 123 to 131 year-over-year. While Toyota remained the top make, its count slightly decreased from 21 to 20, whereas Honda-involved crashes increased by 55.6% from 9 to 14. The 45-54 age group saw a notable 61.1% increase in persons involved, rising from 18 to 29, making it the most represented age group in the current period.

Top Vehicle Makes (131 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA20 (15.3%)
-4.8%prior 21
2
HONDA14 (10.7%)
55.6%prior 9
3
FORD13 (9.9%)
30.0%prior 10
4
MERCEDES-BENZ7 (5.3%)
16.7%prior 6
5
JEEP6 (4.6%)
0.0%prior 6
6
BMW6 (4.6%)
20.0%prior 5
7
NISSAN6 (4.6%)
0.0%prior 6
8
KIA5 (3.8%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN5 (3.8%)
10
TESL4 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (140 persons with recorded sex)

Female72 (51.4%)
26.3%prior 57
Male68 (48.6%)
-18.1%prior 83

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones remained constant at 34 in both periods. However, crashes in 50 mph zones increased by 36.4% from 11 to 15, and crashes in 15 mph zones doubled from 3 to 6. No fatalities were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31 · 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: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-10-01 through 2024-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WELLESLEY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 68
  • Total persons involved: 157
  • Total vehicles involved: 131

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: October 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2024-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/wellesley/october-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

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Wellesley, MA Crash Report — October 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com