Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

40 CRASHES IN
WESTWOOD, MA
SEPTEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2022

In September 2023, Westwood recorded 40 crashes, an increase from 27 crashes in September 2022. This represents a 48.15% increase year-over-year, with total injuries also rising from 4 to 8 during the same period.

40

48.1%was 27

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

8

100.0%was 4

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 · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Westwood showed an upward trend in September 2023 compared to September 2022, with total crashes increasing by 48.15% from 27 to 40. Concurrently, total injuries doubled, rising from 4 to 8 during this period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4100.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes in September 2023 largely maintained the same peak patterns as the prior year, with Friday remaining the peak day for crashes (10 in 2023 vs. 7 in 2022) and 4 PM remaining the peak hour (5 crashes in 2023 vs. 4 in 2022). Notably, Saturday saw a significant increase in crashes, rising from 1 in September 2022 to 5 in September 2023.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either September 2023 or September 2022. However, the number of total injuries increased from 4 in September 2022 to 8 in September 2023. The distribution of crash severity shifted, with September 2023 reporting 4 minor injury crashes and 2 possible injury crashes, while September 2022 had 1 serious injury crash and 3 possible injury crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury4minor injury crashes10%
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes5%
-33.3%prior 3
No Injury33no injury crashes82.5%
50.0%prior 22

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes showed notable shifts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' increased significantly from 4 in September 2022 to 15 in September 2023, representing a 275% increase in count and becoming the top factor. 'Inattention' also saw an increase, rising from 6 crashes in September 2022 to 11 in September 2023, an 83.3% increase in count, making it the second most common factor.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely15 (37.5%)
Inattention11 (27.5%)83.3%prior 6
Failed to yield right of way3 (7.5%)
Fatigued/asleep2 (5%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (5%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (2.5%)
No improper driving1 (2.5%)
Physical impairment1 (2.5%)
Distracted1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

While daylight conditions remained dominant for crashes in both periods, the proportion of crashes occurring during adverse weather and road conditions increased in September 2023. Crashes in rainy conditions rose from 2 (7.4% of total) in September 2022 to 5 (12.5% of total) in September 2023. Similarly, crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 3 (11.1% of total) to 8 (20% of total) year-over-year.

Weather

Clear/Clear20 (50.0%)
25.0%prior 16
Clear6 (15.0%)
20.0%prior 5
Cloudy5 (12.5%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (7.5%)
Rain3 (7.5%)
Rain/Rain2 (5.0%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight36 (90.0%)
50.0%prior 24
Dark - lighted roadway4 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry32 (80.0%)
33.3%prior 24
Wet8 (20.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (83 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA16 (19.3%)
166.7%prior 6
2
HONDA10 (12%)
100.0%prior 5
3
FORD6 (7.2%)
-33.3%prior 9
4
SUBARU6 (7.2%)
5
BMW5 (6%)
6
CHEVROLET5 (6%)
0.0%prior 5
7
NISSAN4 (4.8%)
8
FRHT3 (3.6%)
9
VOLVO3 (3.6%)
10
LNDR2 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (95 persons with recorded sex)

Male54 (56.8%)
80.0%prior 30
Female41 (43.2%)
64.0%prior 25

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in September 2023 saw an increase across several speed limit zones compared to September 2022. Notably, crashes in the 30 mph zone increased from 11 to 16, and crashes in the 35 mph zone rose significantly from 1 to 6. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed limit zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · 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: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTWOOD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 40
  • Total persons involved: 96
  • Total vehicles involved: 83

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: September 2023." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westwood/september-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 — September 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com