Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

53 CRASHES IN
WESTWOOD, MA
DECEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2022

In December 2023, WESTWOOD experienced 53 total crashes, an increase from the 49 crashes reported in December 2022. This represents an 8.2% rise in total crash incidents year-over-year. The most notable shift was a 41.7% reduction in total injuries, decreasing from 12 in the prior period to 7 in the current period.

53

8.2%was 49

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

7

-41.7%was 12

Persons Injured

5

66.7%was 3

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 · 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in WESTWOOD increased year-over-year, rising from 49 in December 2022 to 53 in December 2023. This represents an 8.2% increase in crash incidents for the month.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2023

66.7% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 3 in December 2022 to 5 in December 2023, representing a 66.7% increase in count. The hit-and-run crash rate also rose from 6.1% to 9.4% year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

7

Motorists Injured

Prior: 12-41.7%

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

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Tuesday, with 10 incidents in December 2022, to Monday, with 11 incidents in December 2023. Similarly, the peak crash hour moved from 5 PM, which had 8 crashes in the prior period, to 1 PM, which recorded 6 crashes in the current period.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

Total injuries decreased significantly from 12 in December 2022 to 7 in December 2023, a reduction of 41.7%. While no fatalities were reported in either period, the proportion of crashes resulting in minor injury decreased from 6.1% (3 crashes) to 1.9% (1 crash), and serious injuries (code 'A') were reported in December 2022 (1 crash, 2%) but not in December 2023.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury1minor injury crashes1.9%
-66.7%prior 3
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes9.4%
0.0%prior 5
No Injury46no injury crashes86.8%
17.9%prior 39

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" decreased from 14 in December 2022 to 8 in December 2023, representing a 42.9% reduction in count. "Inattention" crashes also decreased from 8 to 5, a 37.5% reduction in count, and "No improper driving" crashes decreased from 8 to 6, a 25% reduction in count. Conversely, crashes due to "Failed to yield right of way" increased by 50%, from 4 to 6 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely8 (15.1%)-42.9%prior 14
No improper driving6 (11.3%)-25.0%prior 8
Failed to yield right of way6 (11.3%)
Inattention5 (9.4%)-37.5%prior 8
Other improper action4 (7.5%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (3.8%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (3.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (3.8%)
Distracted2 (3.8%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.9%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

The number of crashes occurring in Daylight conditions increased from 24 in December 2022 to 31 in December 2023. Crashes in "Dark - lighted roadway" conditions saw a slight decrease from 18 to 16. The number of crashes on Dry road surfaces increased from 35 to 40, while crashes on Wet surfaces remained consistent at 12 in both periods.

Weather

Clear/Clear23 (43.4%)
91.7%prior 12
Clear12 (22.6%)
-33.3%prior 18
Rain6 (11.3%)
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (5.7%)
Fog, smog, smoke/Fog, smog, smoke2 (3.8%)
Fog, smog, smoke1 (1.9%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.9%)
Cloudy1 (1.9%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.9%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.9%)
-83.3%prior 6

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

Lighting

Daylight31 (58.5%)
29.2%prior 24
Dark - lighted roadway16 (30.2%)
-11.1%prior 18
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (7.5%)
Dawn1 (1.9%)
Dusk1 (1.9%)

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

Road Surface

Dry40 (75.5%)
14.3%prior 35
Wet12 (22.6%)
0.0%prior 12
Water (standing, moving)1 (1.9%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased slightly from 96 in December 2022 to 93 in December 2023. Toyota remained the top make involved, though its count decreased from 23 to 18. The 16-20 age group saw an increase in involved persons from 13 to 18, while the 65+ age group experienced a decrease from 18 to 11 involved persons.

Top Vehicle Makes (93 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA18 (19.4%)
-21.7%prior 23
2
HONDA14 (15.1%)
16.7%prior 12
3
CHEVROLET9 (9.7%)
50.0%prior 6
4
FORD7 (7.5%)
-46.2%prior 13
5
VOLKSWAGEN6 (6.5%)
6
ACURA5 (5.4%)
7
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (4.3%)
8
NISSAN4 (4.3%)
-33.3%prior 6
9
BMW3 (3.2%)
10
LEXUS3 (3.2%)
-50.0%prior 6

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

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

Sex Distribution (105 persons with recorded sex)

Male58 (55.2%)
20.8%prior 48
Female47 (44.8%)
-19.0%prior 58

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph speed zones increased from 21 in December 2022 to 25 in December 2023. Conversely, crashes in 1 mph speed zones decreased from 9 to 3. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone during either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-12-01 through 2023-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTWOOD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 53
  • Total persons involved: 112
  • Total vehicles involved: 93

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