Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

5 CRASHES IN
WHATELY, MA
FEBRUARY 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2025

Total crashes in WHATELY, MA increased by 66.67% year-over-year, rising from 3 in February 2025 to 5 in February 2026. Despite this increase in crash incidents, total injuries decreased from 1 to 0 during the same period. A notable shift includes the emergence of 1 hit-and-run crash in February 2026, compared to none in February 2025.

5

66.7%was 3

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

0

-100.0%was 1

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. 5 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for total crashes in WHATELY shows an increase, rising by 66.67% from 3 crashes in February 2025 to 5 crashes in February 2026. Conversely, total injuries saw a 100% decrease, falling from 1 injury in February 2025 to 0 injuries in February 2026. Fatalities remained stable at 0 in both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2026

20.0% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Friday in both periods, with 1 crash in February 2025 and 2 crashes in February 2026. The peak hour for crashes also remained 8p, with 1 crash recorded at this time in both February 2025 and February 2026. In February 2026, crashes were distributed across more days of the week, occurring on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, compared to Sunday, Thursday, and Friday in February 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'No improper driving' increased by 100% in count, rising from 1 crash in February 2025 to 2 crashes in February 2026. 'Followed too closely' remained stable, contributing to 1 crash in both periods. New factors observed in February 2026 include 'Fatigued/asleep' and 'Over-correcting/over-steering,' each contributing to 1 crash, which were not present in the prior period's data.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving2 (40%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (20%)
Followed too closely1 (20%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (20%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 1 in February 2025 to 2 in February 2026. 'Snow/Snow' weather conditions were associated with 1 crash in February 2026, not appearing in the prior year's data. Crashes in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions rose from 1 to 3, while 'Daylight' crashes remained stable at 2 across both periods. Additionally, crashes on 'Snow' road surfaces increased from 1 to 2, and 'Wet' road conditions were noted in 1 crash in February 2026, which was not present in February 2025.

Weather

Clear2 (40.0%)
Clear/Clear1 (20.0%)
Snow/Cloudy1 (20.0%)
Snow/Snow1 (20.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Dark - roadway not lighted3 (60.0%)
Daylight2 (40.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry2 (40.0%)
Snow2 (40.0%)
Wet1 (20.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (7 vehicles)

1
SUBARU2 (28.6%)
2
TOYOTA2 (28.6%)
3
FORD1 (14.3%)
4
HONDA1 (14.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (9 persons with recorded sex)

Female5 (55.6%)
150.0%prior 2
Male4 (44.4%)
-20.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The number of distinct speed zones where crashes occurred increased from 2 in February 2025 to 5 in February 2026. Crashes at the 35 mph speed limit remained consistent with 1 crash in both periods, while crashes at 65 mph decreased from 2 to 1. New crash occurrences were recorded in 25 mph, 40 mph, and 50 mph zones in February 2026, each with 1 crash, which were not present in February 2025. No fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · 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: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: WHATELY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 5
  • Total persons involved: 10
  • Total vehicles involved: 7

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). "WHATELY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2026." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/whately/february-2026-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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Whately, MA Crash Report — February 2026 | ThatCarHitMe.com