Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

199 CRASHES IN
WESTMINSTER, MA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Westminster recorded 199 total vehicle crashes, a 12.3% decrease from the 227 crashes documented in 2022. Despite the overall reduction in collisions and a 38.6% drop in injuries, the most notable year-over-year change was the occurrence of one fatal crash in 2023, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

199

-12.3%was 227

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

51

-38.6%was 83

Persons Injured

4

33.3%was 3

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Traffic crashes in Westminster showed a downward trend year-over-year, decreasing from 227 in 2022 to 199 in 2023. This positive trend was also reflected in the number of persons injured, which fell from 83 to 51. However, this period also saw the city's first traffic fatality in two years, with one person killed in a crash in 2023 compared to zero in 2022.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

33.3% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run crashes trended upward in both count and rate. The number of hit-and-run incidents increased from 3 in 2022 to 4 in 2023. As a percentage of all crashes, the hit-and-run rate rose from 1.3% in the prior year to 2.0% in the current year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

51

Motorists Injured

Prior: 83-38.6%

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

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent between the two years. Friday was the most frequent day for crashes in both 2023 (35 crashes) and 2022 (43 crashes). Similarly, the afternoon commute was the peak time, with the 3 p.m. hour having the most crashes in 2023 (19) and tying for the most in 2022 (21).

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes decreased, the severity profile shifted with the appearance of one fatal crash in 2023, representing 0.5% of all incidents, compared to zero fatal crashes in 2022. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury fell from 27.3% in 2022 to 20.1% in 2023. This was primarily driven by a sharp decline in minor injury crashes, which dropped from 43 incidents (18.9% of total) to 25 incidents (12.6% of total).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.5%
Serious Injury8serious injury crashes4%
-27.3%prior 11
Minor Injury25minor injury crashes12.6%
-41.9%prior 43
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes3.5%
-12.5%prior 8
No Injury155no injury crashes77.9%
-3.7%prior 161

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors cited in crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with "No improper driving," "Inattention," and "Driving too fast for conditions" as the top three in both periods. The number of crashes attributed to inattention decreased slightly from 36 to 32. More significantly, incidents involving following too closely were more than halved, dropping from 12 in 2022 to 5 in 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving63 (31.7%)-1.6%prior 64
Inattention32 (16.1%)-11.1%prior 36
Driving too fast for conditions22 (11.1%)-8.3%prior 24
Exceeded authorized speed limit10 (5%)25.0%prior 8
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner10 (5%)-9.1%prior 11
Distracted7 (3.5%)40.0%prior 5
Failed to yield right of way6 (3%)-40.0%prior 10
Other improper action6 (3%)20.0%prior 5
Followed too closely5 (2.5%)-58.3%prior 12
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway4 (2%)-33.3%prior 6

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions saw some shifts between the two periods, although the majority of incidents in both years occurred in daylight and on dry roads. The proportion of crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 14.5% of all crashes in 2022 to 20.1% in 2023. Conversely, crashes on snowy roads decreased as a share of the total, falling from 15.0% in 2022 to 10.1% in 2023.

Weather

Clear114 (58.2%)
-14.9%prior 134
Cloudy22 (11.2%)
-4.3%prior 23
Snow16 (8.2%)
-27.3%prior 22
Rain15 (7.7%)
66.7%prior 9
Cloudy/Rain9 (4.6%)
80.0%prior 5
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)5 (2.6%)
Rain/Cloudy4 (2.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (1.5%)
-57.1%prior 7
Cloudy/Snow3 (1.5%)
Snow/Cloudy1 (0.5%)

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

Lighting

Daylight131 (65.8%)
-13.2%prior 151
Dark - roadway not lighted47 (23.6%)
14.6%prior 41
Dark - lighted roadway10 (5.0%)
-54.5%prior 22
Dawn6 (3.0%)
0.0%prior 6
Dusk4 (2.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.5%)

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

Road Surface

Dry125 (62.8%)
-6.0%prior 133
Wet40 (20.1%)
21.2%prior 33
Snow20 (10.1%)
-41.2%prior 34
Ice7 (3.5%)
-65.0%prior 20
Slush4 (2.0%)
-20.0%prior 5
Water (standing, moving)2 (1.0%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.5%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes showed a stable hierarchy, with Toyota remaining the most frequent make in both 2023 (48 vehicles) and 2022 (58 vehicles). Ford vehicles increased from 38 to 42, moving into the second position, while Hondas saw a notable decrease from 38 to 24. The age distribution of people involved in crashes remained broadly similar, with the 16-20 and 26-34 age groups representing large shares in both years.

Top Vehicle Makes (299 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA48 (16.1%)
-17.2%prior 58
2
FORD42 (14%)
10.5%prior 38
3
HONDA24 (8%)
-36.8%prior 38
4
NISSAN22 (7.4%)
4.8%prior 21
5
SUBARU21 (7%)
-19.2%prior 26
6
CHEVROLET20 (6.7%)
-41.2%prior 34
7
HYUNDAI16 (5.4%)
14.3%prior 14
8
JEEP13 (4.3%)
-27.8%prior 18
9
DODGE11 (3.7%)
0.0%prior 11
10
RAM7 (2.3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (332 persons with recorded sex)

Male186 (56.0%)
-29.3%prior 263
Female145 (43.7%)
-9.4%prior 160
X / Unspecified1 (0.3%)

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

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across different speed zones was largely unchanged year-over-year. The highest number of crashes in both periods occurred in 55 mph zones (67 in 2023 vs. 70 in 2022) and 30 mph zones (49 in 2023 vs. 55 in 2022). The single fatal crash recorded in 2023 took place in a 35 mph zone.

Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 23 (4.348%)

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTMINSTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 199
  • Total persons involved: 356
  • Total vehicles involved: 299

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). "WESTMINSTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westminster/2023-annual-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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Westminster, MA Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com