Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

34 CRASHES IN
AMHERST, MA
DECEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2021

Total crashes in Amherst, MA increased by 17.24% from 29 in December 2021 to 34 in December 2022. Despite this rise in crash events, total injuries decreased by 40%, from 10 to 6. A notable shift is the emergence of speeding as a contributing factor, with 3 crashes in the current period compared to none in the prior period.

34

17.2%was 29

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

-40.0%was 10

Persons Injured

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 · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash events in Amherst, MA showed an upward trend, increasing by 17.24% from 29 crashes in December 2021 to 34 crashes in December 2022. Conversely, the total number of injuries decreased by 40%, from 10 injuries in the prior period to 6 injuries in the current period. Fatalities remained at zero in both comparative periods.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2022

5.9% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 9-44.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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 Thursday (10 crashes) in the prior period to Saturday and Sunday (8 crashes each) in the current period. Crashes on Thursday decreased significantly from 10 to 3. The peak hour for crashes also shifted, from 5 PM (5 crashes) in December 2021 to 7 PM (4 crashes) in December 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities recorded in either December 2021 or December 2022. Total injuries decreased by 40%, from 10 in the prior period to 6 in the current period. While there were no serious injury crashes in the prior period, December 2022 recorded 1 crash with a serious injury.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.9%
Minor Injury3minor injury crashes8.8%
-25.0%prior 4
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes2.9%
-75.0%prior 4
No Injury28no injury crashes82.4%
40.0%prior 20

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' increased by 100%, rising from 7 crashes in the prior period to 14 crashes in the current period. 'Inattention' decreased from 8 crashes to 7 crashes, dropping from the most frequent factor to the second most frequent. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw an 80% decrease in count, from 5 crashes to 1 crash, while 'Driving too fast for conditions' emerged with 3 crashes in the current period, having not been present in the prior period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving14 (41.2%)100.0%prior 7
Inattention7 (20.6%)-12.5%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions3 (8.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (5.9%)
Followed too closely1 (2.9%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (2.9%)-80.0%prior 5
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (2.9%)
Visibility obstructed1 (2.9%)
Distracted1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring on icy road surfaces increased significantly, from 1 in the prior period to 4 in the current period. Similarly, crashes involving snowy conditions increased from 4 to 8. The number of crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions increased from 9 to 15, while crashes in 'Daylight' conditions increased from 11 to 15.

Weather

Clear14 (41.2%)
-6.7%prior 15
Rain4 (11.8%)
Clear/Other3 (8.8%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (8.8%)
Snow2 (5.9%)
Cloudy2 (5.9%)
Rain/Snow1 (2.9%)
Snow/Clear1 (2.9%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (2.9%)
Cloudy/Other1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway15 (44.1%)
66.7%prior 9
Daylight15 (44.1%)
36.4%prior 11
Dusk4 (11.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry17 (50.0%)
-5.6%prior 18
Wet8 (23.5%)
14.3%prior 7
Ice4 (11.8%)
Snow4 (11.8%)
Slush1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes saw a slight increase from 55 in the prior period to 56 in the current period. Honda became the most frequently involved vehicle make, increasing from 8 to 11, while Toyota involvement decreased from 16 to 8. Among persons involved, the 16-20 age group saw a decrease from 11 to 8, and the 55-64 age group increased from 5 to 7.

Top Vehicle Makes (56 vehicles)

1
HONDA11 (19.6%)
37.5%prior 8
2
TOYOTA8 (14.3%)
-50.0%prior 16
3
NISSAN6 (10.7%)
4
SUBARU4 (7.1%)
5
HYUNDAI3 (5.4%)
6
FORD3 (5.4%)
7
GMC3 (5.4%)
8
JEEP3 (5.4%)
9
AUDI2 (3.6%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (58 persons with recorded sex)

Male30 (51.7%)
-16.7%prior 36
Female27 (46.6%)
-15.6%prior 32
X / Unspecified1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25-35 MPH speed zones generally decreased, with 25 MPH zones dropping from 6 to 5 crashes, 30 MPH zones from 7 to 5, and 35 MPH zones from 9 to 7. Conversely, crashes in higher speed zones increased, with 40 MPH zones rising from 5 to 7 crashes, and 45 MPH and 55 MPH zones emerging with 4 and 1 crash respectively, having recorded none in the prior period. Fatal rates remained at zero across all speed zones in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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: 2022-12-01 through 2022-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-12-01 through 2022-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: AMHERST, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 34
  • Total persons involved: 62
  • Total vehicles involved: 56

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). "AMHERST, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/amherst/december-2022-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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Amherst, MA Crash Report — December 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com