Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

2 CRASHES IN
BELCHERTOWN, MA
DECEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2021

In December 2022, BELCHERTOWN recorded 2 total crashes, a substantial decrease compared to 26 crashes in December 2021. This represents a 92.31% reduction in total crashes year-over-year, marking a significant improvement in crash frequency.

2

-92.3%was 26

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

0

-100.0%was 8

Persons Injured

0

Fatal Crash Events

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are 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 trends in BELCHERTOWN show a sharp decline, with total crashes decreasing from 26 in December 2021 to 2 in December 2022. This constitutes a 92.31% reduction in crashes year-over-year, accompanied by a decrease in total injuries from 8 to 0.

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Wednesday (7 crashes) in December 2021 to Thursday (1 crash) in December 2022. While December 2021 saw 3 crashes at the peak hour of 7p, December 2022 recorded only 1 crash at the same peak hour.

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

Top Contributing Factors

In December 2021, 'No improper driving' was the leading contributing factor with 11 crashes, followed by 'Inattention' with 5 crashes. In December 2022, 'Inattention' and 'No improper driving' each accounted for 1 crash, representing a decrease of 4 crashes for 'Inattention' and 10 crashes for 'No improper driving' year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention1 (50%)-80.0%prior 5
No improper driving1 (50%)-90.9%prior 11

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 under 'Clear' weather conditions decreased from 17 in December 2021 to 1 in December 2022, while 'Rain' condition crashes decreased from 3 to 1. Similarly, crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces dropped from 16 to 1, and 'Wet' road surface crashes decreased from 5 to 1. In December 2022, crashes were evenly split between 'Clear' and 'Rain' weather, and 'Dry' and 'Wet' road surfaces, unlike the prior period where 'Clear' and 'Dry' conditions were predominant.

Weather

Clear1 (50.0%)
-94.1%prior 17
Rain1 (50.0%)

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 - unknown roadway lighting1 (50.0%)
Dawn1 (50.0%)

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

Road Surface

Dry1 (50.0%)
-93.8%prior 16
Wet1 (50.0%)
-80.0%prior 5

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

Vehicles & Demographics

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

In December 2022, all 2 crashes occurred in speed zones of 45 mph (1 crash) and 50 mph (1 crash). This contrasts with December 2021, where crashes were distributed across several speed zones, with the highest count at 30 mph (11 crashes), and 2 crashes each at 45 mph and 50 mph.

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: BELCHERTOWN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 2
  • Total persons involved: 2
  • Total vehicles involved: 2

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). "BELCHERTOWN, 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/belchertown/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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Belchertown, MA Crash Report — December 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com