Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

22 CRASHES IN
BELCHERTOWN, MA
MARCH 2026

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2025

In March 2026, BELCHERTOWN recorded 22 total crashes, an increase from the 17 crashes reported in March 2025. This represents a 29.41% rise in crash incidents year-over-year. A notable shift includes a significant increase in crashes attributed to 'Inattention', which rose from 2 incidents in the prior period to 6 in the current period.

22

29.4%was 17

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

4

-20.0%was 5

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates an increase in crash incidents, with total crashes rising from 17 in March 2025 to 22 in March 2026. This constitutes a 29.41% increase year-over-year. Total injuries saw a slight decrease from 5 to 4, while no fatalities were reported in either period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5-20.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Thursday with 5 incidents in March 2025 to Tuesday with 6 incidents in March 2026. The peak hour for crashes moved from 4p in the prior period (3 incidents) to 7p in the current period (3 incidents). Crashes on Wednesday increased from 0 to 4, and on Saturday from 0 to 2, while Friday crashes decreased from 2 to 1.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities in either March 2025 or March 2026. Total injuries decreased slightly from 5 in the prior period to 4 in the current period. Crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased from 3 to 2, while crashes with possible injuries increased from 0 to 1 year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes9.1%
-33.3%prior 3
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4.5%
No Injury18no injury crashes81.8%
28.6%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor, 'No improper driving', increased from 7 crashes in March 2025 to 9 crashes in March 2026, a 28.6% rise in count. 'Inattention' crashes saw a substantial increase, rising from 2 to 6 incidents, representing a 200% increase in count and elevating its ranking among factors. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes decreased from 3 to 2 incidents, a 33.3% reduction in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving9 (40.9%)28.6%prior 7
Inattention6 (27.3%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (9.1%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (4.5%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (4.5%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Adverse weather conditions (non-clear) were associated with 10 crashes in March 2026, up from 4 in March 2025, with 2 snow-related crashes appearing in the current period. Crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 3 to 6, and crashes on icy or snowy road surfaces, not present in the prior period, accounted for 6 incidents in the current period. Crashes occurring in 'Dark - roadway not lighted' conditions increased from 4 to 6 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear12 (54.5%)
-7.7%prior 13
Rain4 (18.2%)
Cloudy3 (13.6%)
Snow2 (9.1%)
Fog, smog, smoke/Cloudy1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (71.4%)
25.0%prior 12
Dark - roadway not lighted6 (28.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry9 (40.9%)
-35.7%prior 14
Wet6 (27.3%)
Ice4 (18.2%)
Snow2 (9.1%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (4.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (34 vehicles)

1
HONDA5 (14.7%)
2
CHEVROLET5 (14.7%)
3
SUBARU4 (11.8%)
4
FORD3 (8.8%)
5
JEEP2 (5.9%)
6
NISSAN2 (5.9%)
7
DODGE2 (5.9%)
8
TOYOTA2 (5.9%)
9
TESL1 (2.9%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN1 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (38 persons with recorded sex)

Male24 (63.2%)
50.0%prior 16
Female14 (36.8%)
55.6%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 20 mph speed zone increased from 1 to 3, while those in the 30 mph zone rose from 5 to 7. The 35 mph speed zone experienced a notable increase in crashes, going from 2 to 7 incidents. Crashes reported in 5 mph and 50 mph speed zones in March 2025 (2 each) were not observed in March 2026.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2026-03-01 through 2026-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: BELCHERTOWN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 22
  • Total persons involved: 39
  • Total vehicles involved: 34

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