Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

17 CRASHES IN
ATHOL, MA
MARCH 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2021

In March 2022, Athol experienced 17 crashes, a 6.25% increase from the 16 crashes recorded in March 2021. A notable shift includes the 80% increase in total injuries, rising from 5 in March 2021 to 9 in March 2022, and the appearance of one serious injury crash in the current period.

17

6.3%was 16

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

9

80.0%was 5

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Athol saw a slight increase year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 6.25% from 16 in March 2021 to 17 in March 2022. While fatalities remained at zero in both periods, total injuries increased by 80%, from 5 to 9.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2022

0.0% vs prior (1)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 1 in both March 2021 and March 2022. The hit-and-run crash rate saw a slight decrease, moving from 6.3% of total crashes in March 2021 to 5.9% in March 2022.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 560.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The distribution of crashes across the week shifted, with the peak day moving from Monday in March 2021 (6 crashes) to Wednesday and Thursday in March 2022 (4 crashes each). The peak crash hour also changed significantly, with March 2021's peak at 9 PM (2 crashes) shifting to 1 PM in March 2022, which saw 4 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes remained at zero for both March 2021 and March 2022. However, the proportion of injury-involved crashes increased from 31.3% (5 out of 16 crashes) in March 2021 to 41.2% (7 out of 17 crashes) in March 2022. Notably, March 2022 recorded one serious injury crash (severity 'A'), which was not present in March 2021.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes5.9%
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes23.5%
0.0%prior 4
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes11.8%
100.0%prior 1
No Injury10no injury crashes58.8%
0.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' increased from 3 crashes in March 2021 to 4 crashes in March 2022. 'Inattention' related crashes decreased from 3 to 2 year-over-year. Factors such as 'Driving too fast for conditions' (2 crashes) and 'Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway' (2 crashes) appeared in March 2022 but were not present in March 2021 data.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving4 (23.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (11.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (11.8%)
Inattention2 (11.8%)
Followed too closely1 (5.9%)
Visibility obstructed1 (5.9%)
Distracted1 (5.9%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (5.9%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (5.9%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 7 in March 2021 to 10 in March 2022, while crashes in 'Snow' conditions appeared in March 2022 with 4 instances, not present in the prior year. Regarding road surface, 'Snow' conditions were reported for 4 crashes in March 2022, whereas March 2021 saw 13 crashes on 'Dry' roads and 2 on 'Wet' roads. 'Daylight' remained the most common lighting condition, increasing from 11 crashes in March 2021 to 13 in March 2022.

Weather

Clear10 (62.5%)
42.9%prior 7
Snow4 (25.0%)
Clear/Other2 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight13 (76.5%)
18.2%prior 11
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (11.8%)
Dark - lighted roadway1 (5.9%)
Dusk1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry12 (70.6%)
-7.7%prior 13
Snow4 (23.5%)
Wet1 (5.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (28 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET7 (25%)
2
SUBARU3 (10.7%)
3
FORD3 (10.7%)
4
NISSAN3 (10.7%)
5
JEEP2 (7.1%)
6
HONDA2 (7.1%)
7
MAZDA2 (7.1%)
8
TOYOTA2 (7.1%)
-66.7%prior 6
9
FREIGHTLINER1 (3.6%)
10
DODGE1 (3.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (25 persons with recorded sex)

Male13 (52.0%)
-23.5%prior 17
Female12 (48.0%)
0.0%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed limit zone for either period. Crashes occurring in 30 mph zones increased significantly from 3 in March 2021 to 7 in March 2022. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 7 in March 2021 to just 1 in March 2022. There was also an increase in crashes in 55 mph zones, rising from 1 to 2 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · 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: 2022-03-01 through 2022-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-03-01 through 2022-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: ATHOL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 17
  • Total persons involved: 30
  • Total vehicles involved: 28

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). "ATHOL, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/athol/march-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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Athol, MA Crash Report — March 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com