The Hampden District Attorney says there's been a spike in serious motor vehicle accidents this year in the county. The office investigates fatal or potentially fatal crashes. So far in 2025, it has responded to 42 major incidents, including 28 which resulted in death.
District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said those numbers are on a record pace, and he is concerned with more people out during the summer months, the trend could continue.
While operating under the influence is always a problem, he said distracted driving has also become a troubling factor.
"Even just those few seconds of attention to a phone, a car can travel hundreds or thousands of feet depending on the speed that it's driving and in that course, can mean the end of a life or a bad accident," Gulluni stated.
He is calling on motorists to obey speed limits, traffic signals and not to drive recklessly. The DA added pedestrians and those riding bicycles should also use common sense and not put themselves in harm’s way.
The warm weather months also mean there are more construction projects involving road crews and public safety officers directing traffic. Already this year, there’s been at least two major incidents involving work zones in Hampden County. In late March, three construction workers were struck and killed by a vehicle on Interstate 91 in West Springfield. And earlier this month, a state trooper was hit by a driver on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Chicopee while working on a road detail, but survived.
In both cases, Gulluni’s office was involved, and charges have been filed.
"There's many more construction projects at this time of the year, often times that requires folks to be very attentive and travel through cones and different traffic patterns," the DA said. "All those things together really makes the point all the more emphatic for us: Please pay attention, please drive the speed limit, please don't drive while distracted or drunk."
According to statistics provided by Gulluni’s office, there were 68 serious crash investigations conducted in Hampden County last year. The figure is lower than the three previous years—possibly due to a cold, wet spring in 2024, followed by extreme heat.
