Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

48 CRASHES IN
WESTFIELD, MA
MAY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2024

Total crashes in Westfield decreased by 15.8%, from 57 in May 2024 to 48 in May 2025. This period also saw a notable 48.4% reduction in total injuries, falling from 31 to 16. The most significant shift was in contributing factors, with 'Followed too closely' crashes dropping substantially.

48

▼ -15.8%was 57

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

16

▼ -48.4%was 31

Persons Injured

0

▼ -100.0%was 1

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 · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Westfield showed a downward trend year-over-year, decreasing from 57 crashes in May 2024 to 48 crashes in May 2025, representing a 15.8% reduction. This decline also extended to total injuries, which fell by 48.4% from 31 to 16.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

16

Motorists Injured

Prior: 30↓-46.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

While Friday remained the peak day for crashes in both periods, the number of crashes on Fridays decreased from 16 in May 2024 to 11 in May 2025. The peak hour for crashes shifted from 5 PM (8 crashes) in May 2024 to 3 PM (6 crashes) in May 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities reported in either May 2024 or May 2025. Serious injuries decreased from 2 to 1, and minor injuries saw a significant drop from 15 to 4. Conversely, possible injuries increased from 4 in May 2024 to 10 in May 2025.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.1%
↓-50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes8.3%
↓-73.3%prior 15
Possible Injury10possible injury crashes20.8%
↑150.0%prior 4
No Injury33no injury crashes68.8%
↓-5.7%prior 35

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor shifted from 'Followed too closely' (15 crashes, 26.3% share) in May 2024 to 'Failed to yield right of way' (13 crashes, 27.1% share) in May 2025. Crashes due to 'Followed too closely' decreased by 80% in count, from 15 to 3, while 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes increased by 44.4% in count, from 9 to 13. 'Inattention' crashes also decreased by 44.4% in count, from 9 to 5.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way13 (27.1%)↑44.4%prior 9
No improper driving6 (12.5%)↑20.0%prior 5
Inattention5 (10.4%)↓-44.4%prior 9
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner4 (8.3%)
Followed too closely3 (6.3%)↓-80.0%prior 15
Other improper action3 (6.3%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (6.3%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (4.2%)
Distracted2 (4.2%)
Visibility obstructed1 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 50 in May 2024 to 22 in May 2025. Conversely, crashes on wet road surfaces increased significantly from 4 to 17, while rain-related weather conditions (Rain, Rain/Cloudy) saw an increase from 3 to 11 crashes. Daylight crashes decreased from 48 to 41.

Weather

Clear22 (45.8%)
↓-56.0%prior 50
Rain10 (20.8%)
Clear/Clear5 (10.4%)
Cloudy5 (10.4%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (6.3%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (2.1%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (2.1%)
Rain/Rain1 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight41 (85.4%)
↓-14.6%prior 48
Dark - lighted roadway5 (10.4%)
↓-16.7%prior 6
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.1%)
Dawn1 (2.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry31 (64.6%)
↓-41.5%prior 53
Wet17 (35.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes decreased from 147 in May 2024 to 119 in May 2025. Honda and Ford, which were tied as top makes in May 2024 with 15 vehicles each, saw their involvement decrease to 12 and 10 vehicles respectively. The age group 35-44 saw a decrease in involved persons from 24 to 18, and the 65+ age group decreased from 20 to 13.

Top Vehicle Makes (89 vehicles)

1
HONDA12 (13.5%)
↓-20.0%prior 15
2
TOYOTA11 (12.4%)
↑10.0%prior 10
3
FORD10 (11.2%)
↓-33.3%prior 15
4
SUBARU6 (6.7%)
→0.0%prior 6
5
NISSAN6 (6.7%)
↓-45.5%prior 11
6
CHEVROLET6 (6.7%)
↓-25.0%prior 8
7
DODGE5 (5.6%)
8
GMC4 (4.5%)
↓-20.0%prior 5
9
HYUNDAI3 (3.4%)
10
OTH3 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (111 persons with recorded sex)

Male63 (56.8%)
↓-19.2%prior 78
Female48 (43.2%)
↓-20.0%prior 60

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph zones increased from 16 in May 2024 to 25 in May 2025. Conversely, crashes in 40 mph zones saw a substantial decrease from 22 to 5. There were no fatal crashes in any speed zone for either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · 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: 2025-05-01 through 2025-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-05-01 through 2025-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTFIELD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 48
  • Total persons involved: 119
  • Total vehicles involved: 89

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). "WESTFIELD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westfield/may-2025-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

Westfield, MA Crash Report — May 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com