Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

40 CRASHES IN
WESTWOOD, MA
MARCH 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2022

Total crashes in WESTWOOD, MA decreased by 7.0% from 43 in March 2022 to 40 in March 2023. The most notable year-over-year shift was the increase in total fatalities, rising from 0 in March 2022 to 1 in March 2023.

40

▼ -7.0%was 43

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

5

▼ -37.5%was 8

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash events in WESTWOOD decreased by 3 incidents, from 43 crashes in March 2022 to 40 crashes in March 2023. Despite this reduction in total crashes, fatalities increased from 0 to 1, while total injuries decreased from 8 to 5.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0→0.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 8↓-37.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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 9 crashes in March 2022 to Monday with 11 crashes in March 2023. The peak hour for crashes also shifted, moving from 5 PM with 7 crashes in March 2022 to 4 PM with 5 crashes in March 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in March 2022 to 1 in March 2023, resulting in a fatal crash rate of 2.5% in the current period compared to 0% previously. Minor injury crashes decreased from 7 (16.3% share) to 1 (2.5% share), while possible injury crashes increased from 1 (2.3% share) to 2 (5% share).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes2.5%
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes2.5%
↓-85.7%prior 7
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes5%
↑100.0%prior 1
No Injury35no injury crashes87.5%
→0.0%prior 35

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'Followed too closely,' saw a significant decrease from 12 crashes in March 2022 to 2 crashes in March 2023. Conversely, 'No improper driving' increased from 2 crashes to 6 crashes year-over-year. 'Inattention,' 'Failed to yield right of way,' and 'Distracted' remained stable with 7, 3, and 3 crashes respectively in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention7 (17.5%)→0.0%prior 7
No improper driving6 (15%)
Other improper action4 (10%)
Distracted3 (7.5%)
Failed to yield right of way3 (7.5%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings2 (5%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (5%)
Followed too closely2 (5%)↓-83.3%prior 12
Operating defective equipment1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions increased from 22 in March 2022 to 27 in March 2023. Crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces decreased significantly from 6 to 1. The number of crashes occurring in 'Daylight' conditions decreased from 34 to 30, while crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' increased from 5 to 6.

Weather

Clear/Clear27 (67.5%)
↑22.7%prior 22
Clear9 (22.5%)
↓-10.0%prior 10
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (2.5%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (2.5%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (2.5%)
Snow1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight30 (75.0%)
↓-11.8%prior 34
Dark - lighted roadway6 (15.0%)
↑20.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (5.0%)
Dawn2 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry37 (92.5%)
↑5.7%prior 35
Ice1 (2.5%)
Snow1 (2.5%)
Wet1 (2.5%)
↓-83.3%prior 6

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 82 in March 2022 to 73 in March 2023. The top vehicle make, HONDA, saw a decrease from 16 vehicles involved to 11. In terms of persons involved, the 21-25 age group experienced a notable decrease from 16 persons to 6, while the 16-20 age group increased from 13 persons to 16.

Top Vehicle Makes (73 vehicles)

1
HONDA11 (15.1%)
↓-31.3%prior 16
2
NISSAN7 (9.6%)
↓-12.5%prior 8
3
TOYOTA7 (9.6%)
↓-12.5%prior 8
4
FORD5 (6.8%)
↓-37.5%prior 8
5
JEEP4 (5.5%)
6
MERCEDES-BENZ4 (5.5%)
7
HYUNDAI4 (5.5%)
8
AUDI3 (4.1%)
9
ACURA3 (4.1%)
10
MAZDA2 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (81 persons with recorded sex)

Male41 (50.6%)
↓-12.8%prior 47
Female40 (49.4%)
↓-9.1%prior 44

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 19 in March 2022 to 14 in March 2023, though this zone recorded the sole fatal crash in the current period. Crashes in the 55 mph speed zone also decreased from 7 to 3. New crash occurrences were noted in the 15 mph and 25 mph speed zones, each with 1 crash, where no crashes were recorded in these zones in the prior period.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 14 (7.143%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · 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: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-03-01 through 2023-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTWOOD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 40
  • Total persons involved: 89
  • Total vehicles involved: 73

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: March 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westwood/march-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 — March 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com