Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

35 CRASHES IN
WESTFORD, MA
OCTOBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2021

Total crashes in WESTFORD, MA decreased by 25.5% from 47 in October 2021 to 35 in October 2022. Concurrently, total injuries decreased by 38.5%, from 13 to 8. A notable shift was the increase in DUI crashes, rising from 0 in October 2021 to 6 in October 2022.

35

-25.5%was 47

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

8

-38.5%was 13

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in WESTFORD, MA showed a downward trend year-over-year, with total crashes decreasing by 12, from 47 to 35. This 25.5% reduction was accompanied by a 38.5% decrease in total injuries, falling from 13 to 8. Fatalities remained at 0 in both periods.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

7

Motorists Injured

Prior: 13-46.2%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · 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 Thursday with 9 crashes in October 2021 to Friday with 9 crashes in October 2022. The peak hour remained consistent at 5 PM, with 5 crashes in both periods. There was a notable increase in crashes during the early morning hours (12 AM - 5 AM), rising from 0 in October 2021 to 5 in October 2022, while crashes during other periods generally decreased.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities in either period. Serious injuries (Severity A) increased from 1 crash (2.1% of crashes) in October 2021 to 2 crashes (5.7% of crashes) in October 2022. Minor injuries (Severity B) saw a slight decrease in count from 6 to 5, though their share of total crashes increased from 12.8% to 14.3%. Possible injury crashes (Severity C), which accounted for 2 crashes in October 2021, were not reported in October 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes5.7%
100.0%prior 1
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes14.3%
-16.7%prior 6
No Injury27no injury crashes77.1%
-27.0%prior 37

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors saw shifts year-over-year. 'No improper driving' decreased from 10 crashes (21.3% share) in October 2021 to 7 crashes (20% share) in October 2022. 'Followed too closely' saw a significant reduction, dropping from 8 crashes (17% share) to 1 crash (2.9% share). Conversely, 'Physical impairment' increased from 0 crashes in October 2021 to 3 crashes (8.6% share) in October 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention8 (22.9%)-11.1%prior 9
No improper driving7 (20%)-30.0%prior 10
Physical impairment3 (8.6%)
Other improper action3 (8.6%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (5.7%)-60.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (5.7%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (5.7%)
Visibility obstructed2 (5.7%)
Glare1 (2.9%)
Followed too closely1 (2.9%)-87.5%prior 8

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions decreased from 29 in October 2021 to 19 in October 2022, while those in 'Dark - lighted roadway' increased from 7 to 10. Crashes during 'Clear' weather decreased from 30 to 28, and 'Rain' conditions saw a drop from 6 to 2. The number of crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces decreased from 37 to 30, and on 'Wet' surfaces from 10 to 5.

Weather

Clear28 (80.0%)
-6.7%prior 30
Cloudy4 (11.4%)
-50.0%prior 8
Rain2 (5.7%)
-66.7%prior 6
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight19 (54.3%)
-34.5%prior 29
Dark - lighted roadway10 (28.6%)
42.9%prior 7
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (11.4%)
-42.9%prior 7
Dawn2 (5.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry30 (85.7%)
-18.9%prior 37
Wet5 (14.3%)
-50.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 83 in October 2021 to 58 in October 2022. Toyota and Honda remained among the top makes involved, though their counts decreased from 17 to 7 and 13 to 8, respectively. All age groups generally saw a decrease in person involvement, with the 16-20 age group experiencing the largest drop from 20 to 7 persons. Both male and female person involvement decreased, from 62 to 38 and 53 to 28, respectively.

Top Vehicle Makes (58 vehicles)

1
HONDA8 (13.8%)
-38.5%prior 13
2
TOYOTA7 (12.1%)
-58.8%prior 17
3
FORD7 (12.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
4
NISSAN5 (8.6%)
0.0%prior 5
5
JEEP5 (8.6%)
0.0%prior 5
6
CHEVROLET4 (6.9%)
7
DODGE3 (5.2%)
8
BUIC2 (3.4%)
9
TESL2 (3.4%)
10
KIA2 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (66 persons with recorded sex)

Male38 (57.6%)
-38.7%prior 62
Female28 (42.4%)
-47.2%prior 53

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 16 in October 2021 to 18 in October 2022. Conversely, crashes in 40 mph zones decreased from 16 to 9, and in 65 mph zones from 13 to 4. A new category of 55 mph zones appeared in October 2022, accounting for 2 crashes, which was not present in the prior period. No fatalities were recorded in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31 · 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: 2022-10-01 through 2022-10-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-10-01 through 2022-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTFORD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 35
  • Total persons involved: 72
  • Total vehicles involved: 58

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). "WESTFORD, MA Crash Intelligence Report: October 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2022-10-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westford/october-2022-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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Westford, MA Crash Report — October 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com