Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

111 CRASHES IN
WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA
JANUARY 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2025

Total crashes in WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA increased from 86 in January 2025 to 111 in January 2026, marking a 29.07% rise year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 125% increase in crashes attributed to speeding, rising from 4 to 9. Fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

111

29.1%was 86

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

14

-17.6%was 17

Persons Injured

8

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA saw an upward trend, increasing by 29.07% from 86 crashes in January 2025 to 111 crashes in January 2026. Despite the rise in total crashes, the number of injured persons decreased from 17 to 14, a 17.65% reduction. Fatalities remained unchanged at zero for both periods.

8

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2026

0.0% vs prior (8)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 8 in both January 2025 and January 2026. However, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 9.3% in the prior period to 7.2% in the current period. This change is due to the overall increase in total crashes year-over-year.

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: 10.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

12

Motorists Injured

Prior: 16-25.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · 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 Friday in both periods, with crash counts increasing from 16 in January 2025 to 28 in January 2026. The peak hour shifted from 11 AM with 10 crashes in the prior period to 2 PM with 14 crashes in the current period. This indicates a general increase in crash frequency across peak times.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero in both January 2025 and January 2026. The total number of injured persons decreased from 17 in the prior period to 14 in the current period, a 17.65% reduction. The proportion of crashes resulting in serious injury slightly decreased from 1.2% to 0.9% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.9%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes4.5%
0.0%prior 5
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes4.5%
-16.7%prior 6
No Injury99no injury crashes89.2%
33.8%prior 74

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes involving "Inattention" doubled from 4 to 8 incidents, and "Other improper action" crashes more than doubled from 3 to 7. "Driving too fast for conditions" increased by 50%, rising from 4 crashes in the prior period to 6 crashes in the current period. The count of "No improper driving" crashes also increased from 31 to 34.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving34 (30.6%)9.7%prior 31
Failed to yield right of way12 (10.8%)9.1%prior 11
Inattention8 (7.2%)
Followed too closely8 (7.2%)-11.1%prior 9
Other improper action7 (6.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road6 (5.4%)
Driving too fast for conditions6 (5.4%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (3.6%)
Operating defective equipment3 (2.7%)
Made an improper turn3 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 57 to 67 year-over-year. Crashes on snowy road surfaces saw a significant increase, rising from 4 in January 2025 to 16 in January 2026. Additionally, crashes occurring in daylight conditions increased from 47 to 70.

Weather

Clear67 (61.5%)
17.5%prior 57
Snow14 (12.8%)
75.0%prior 8
Cloudy9 (8.3%)
50.0%prior 6
Clear/Clear7 (6.4%)
Rain6 (5.5%)
Snow/Cloudy3 (2.8%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.9%)
Cloudy/Snow1 (0.9%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight70 (63.1%)
48.9%prior 47
Dark - lighted roadway35 (31.5%)
40.0%prior 25
Dawn3 (2.7%)
Dusk2 (1.8%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry70 (63.1%)
7.7%prior 65
Wet20 (18.0%)
66.7%prior 12
Snow16 (14.4%)
Ice4 (3.6%)
Slush1 (0.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 33.5%, from 155 in January 2025 to 207 in January 2026. Honda-involved crashes more than doubled from 15 to 31, while Hyundai-involved crashes rose from 7 to 18. Conversely, Ford-involved crashes decreased from 21 to 14.

Top Vehicle Makes (207 vehicles)

1
HONDA31 (15%)
106.7%prior 15
2
TOYOTA28 (13.5%)
16.7%prior 24
3
HYUNDAI18 (8.7%)
157.1%prior 7
4
CHEVROLET16 (7.7%)
128.6%prior 7
5
NISSAN15 (7.2%)
150.0%prior 6
6
FORD14 (6.8%)
-33.3%prior 21
7
JEEP9 (4.3%)
28.6%prior 7
8
SUBARU8 (3.9%)
-11.1%prior 9
9
BMW8 (3.9%)
10
KIA7 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (253 persons with recorded sex)

Male136 (53.8%)
18.3%prior 115
Female117 (46.2%)
58.1%prior 74

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 40 in January 2025 to 61 in January 2026. Crashes in 40 mph zones also rose from 15 to 20, and those in 65 mph zones increased from 2 to 5. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed limit zone during either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-01-01 through 2026-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 111
  • Total persons involved: 266
  • Total vehicles involved: 207

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). "WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/west-springfield/january-2026-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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West Springfield, MA Crash Report — January 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com