Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

43 CRASHES IN
WESTWOOD, MA
SEPTEMBER 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2023

In September 2024, Westwood recorded 43 crashes, a 7.5% increase from the 40 crashes reported in September 2023. Total injuries also rose slightly from 8 to 9. A notable shift was observed in crashes attributed to speeding, which increased from 1 in the prior year to 7 in the current period.

43

7.5%was 40

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

9

12.5%was 8

Persons Injured

1

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 · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Westwood showed a slight upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 7.5% from 40 in September 2023 to 43 in September 2024. Concurrently, total injuries also saw an increase of 12.5%, rising from 8 to 9 during the same period.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2024

2.3% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 80.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Friday, which had 10 crashes in September 2023, to Thursday, which recorded 9 crashes in September 2024. Additionally, Sunday crashes increased from 3 to 7, while Friday crashes decreased from 10 to 7. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 4 PM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 3 PM with 6 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero for both September 2023 and September 2024. Total injuries increased from 8 to 9 year-over-year. A notable change was the occurrence of 1 serious injury crash in September 2024, which was not present in the prior period. Minor injury crashes remained at 4, while possible injury crashes increased from 2 to 3.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.3%
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes9.3%
0.0%prior 4
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes7%
50.0%prior 2
No Injury34no injury crashes79.1%
3.0%prior 33

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The distribution of contributing factors saw several shifts year-over-year. Crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' decreased by 5, from 15 in September 2023 to 10 in September 2024. 'Inattention' related crashes significantly decreased from 11 to 2. Conversely, 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased by 5 crashes, from 1 to 6, and 'No improper driving' also increased by 5 crashes, from 1 to 6, indicating a change in the primary reported causes of incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely10 (23.3%)-33.3%prior 15
No improper driving6 (14%)
Driving too fast for conditions6 (14%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (9.3%)
Other improper action3 (7%)
Inattention2 (4.7%)-81.8%prior 11
Made an improper turn2 (4.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (2.3%)
Operating defective equipment1 (2.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in adverse weather conditions, specifically rain, decreased slightly from 5 crashes in September 2023 to 4 crashes in September 2024. Similarly, crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 8 to 5. Conversely, crashes in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 4 to 8, and crashes in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions increased from 0 to 2, indicating a shift towards more nighttime incidents.

Weather

Clear/Clear18 (42.9%)
-10.0%prior 20
Clear16 (38.1%)
166.7%prior 6
Cloudy4 (9.5%)
-20.0%prior 5
Rain2 (4.8%)
Rain/Rain2 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight31 (72.1%)
-13.9%prior 36
Dark - lighted roadway8 (18.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (4.7%)
Dawn2 (4.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry37 (86.0%)
15.6%prior 32
Wet5 (11.6%)
-37.5%prior 8
Water (standing, moving)1 (2.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The number of Toyota vehicles involved in crashes increased from 16 to 18, while Honda vehicles remained stable at 10. Jeep vehicles saw a notable increase from 2 to 7. Regarding person demographics, the 21-25 age group showed a significant increase in involvement, rising from 10 persons in September 2023 to 23 persons in September 2024, becoming the most represented age group. Conversely, the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups saw decreases in involvement.

Top Vehicle Makes (79 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA18 (22.8%)
12.5%prior 16
2
HONDA10 (12.7%)
0.0%prior 10
3
JEEP7 (8.9%)
4
FORD4 (5.1%)
-33.3%prior 6
5
BMW3 (3.8%)
-40.0%prior 5
6
MAZDA3 (3.8%)
7
NISSAN3 (3.8%)
8
HYUNDAI3 (3.8%)
9
DODGE3 (3.8%)
10
CHEVROLET3 (3.8%)
-40.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (99 persons with recorded sex)

Male63 (63.6%)
16.7%prior 54
Female36 (36.4%)
-12.2%prior 41

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 1 mph speed zones increased from 5 in September 2023 to 7 in September 2024. Crashes in 30 mph zones, which remained the most frequent, slightly decreased from 16 to 15. The number of crashes in 55 mph zones remained stable at 6. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30 · 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: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-09-01 through 2024-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: WESTWOOD, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 43
  • Total persons involved: 99
  • Total vehicles involved: 79

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 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2024-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/westwood/september-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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Westwood, MA Crash Report — September 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com