Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

20 CRASHES IN
WESTMINSTER, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Westminster experienced 20 crashes, a decrease from 22 crashes in March 2023, representing a 9.1% reduction. A significant shift was the occurrence of one fatality in the current period, compared to zero fatalities in the prior year. Total injuries also doubled from 2 to 4 year-over-year.

20

-9.1%was 22

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

4

100.0%was 2

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%was 1

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in Westminster decreased by 9.1% year-over-year, from 22 crashes in March 2023 to 20 crashes in March 2024. Despite this reduction in total incidents, fatalities increased from 0 to 1, and total injuries increased from 2 to 4 during the same period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 00.0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2100.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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 Friday with 5 crashes in March 2023 to Saturday with 8 crashes in March 2024. The peak hour also changed, moving from 2 PM with 3 crashes in the prior period to 11 PM with 3 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in March 2023 to 1 in March 2024, representing 5% of all crashes in the current period. Minor injury crashes also saw an increase, rising from 1 crash (4.5% of total) in the prior period to 4 crashes (20% of total) in the current period, while crashes with no injuries decreased from 20 to 15.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes5%
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes20%
300.0%prior 1
No Injury15no injury crashes75%
-25.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' decreased slightly from 8 crashes in March 2023 to 7 crashes in March 2024. Conversely, 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased from 2 crashes to 3 crashes, and 'Inattention' decreased from 4 crashes to 2 crashes year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving7 (35%)-12.5%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions3 (15%)
Inattention2 (10%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (10%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5%)
Distracted1 (5%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (5%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 11 in March 2023 to 5 in March 2024, while cloudy conditions saw an increase from 1 to 5 crashes. Regarding road surface, dry conditions decreased from 11 crashes to 9, but crashes on ice significantly increased from 1 to 6, while those on snow decreased from 6 to 1. Crashes during daylight hours decreased from 18 to 12, whereas crashes in dark conditions (both lighted and unlighted roadways) increased from a combined 3 to 7 incidents.

Weather

Cloudy5 (25.0%)
Clear5 (25.0%)
-54.5%prior 11
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (15.0%)
Rain1 (5.0%)
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke1 (5.0%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Blowing sand, snow1 (5.0%)
Snow1 (5.0%)
-80.0%prior 5
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (5.0%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.0%)
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight12 (60.0%)
-33.3%prior 18
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (20.0%)
Dark - lighted roadway3 (15.0%)
Dawn1 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry9 (45.0%)
-18.2%prior 11
Ice6 (30.0%)
Wet3 (15.0%)
Slush1 (5.0%)
Snow1 (5.0%)
-83.3%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (27 vehicles)

1
FORD7 (25.9%)
40.0%prior 5
2
TOYOTA6 (22.2%)
20.0%prior 5
3
CHEVROLET2 (7.4%)
4
HONDA2 (7.4%)
5
NISSAN2 (7.4%)
6
RAM2 (7.4%)
7
KIA1 (3.7%)
8
MAZDA1 (3.7%)
9
SUBARU1 (3.7%)
10
GMC1 (3.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (40 persons with recorded sex)

Male26 (65.0%)
30.0%prior 20
Female14 (35.0%)
-26.3%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 35 mph speed zone notably increased from 1 in March 2023 to 6 in March 2024. While the number of crashes in the 45 mph zone remained stable at 3 for both periods, a fatal crash occurred in this zone in March 2024, compared to none in March 2023. Crashes in 30 mph and 40 mph zones both decreased by 2, from 5 to 3 and 6 to 4 respectively.

Fatal crashes by zone: 45 mph: 1 of 3 (33.333%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · 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: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTMINSTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 20
  • Total persons involved: 40
  • Total vehicles involved: 27

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: March 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westminster/march-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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Westminster, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com