Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

48 CRASHES IN
BELLINGHAM, MA
DECEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2021

Total crashes in BELLINGHAM, MA decreased by 12.7% year-over-year, from 55 crashes in December 2021 to 48 crashes in December 2022. The most significant shift was in fatalities, which increased from 0 in December 2021 to 1 in December 2022. This change also led to a fatal crash rate of 2.08% in the current period compared to 0% previously.

48

-12.7%was 55

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

10

11.1%was 9

Persons Injured

4

300.0%was 1

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in BELLINGHAM, MA decreased year-over-year, with a 12.7% reduction from 55 crashes in December 2021 to 48 crashes in December 2022. Despite this decrease in total crashes, there was an increase in fatal crashes during the period.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2022

300.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly from 1 in December 2021 to 4 in December 2022. This resulted in the hit-and-run rate rising from 1.8% to 8.3% year-over-year. The trend for hit-and-run incidents is upward.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

10

Motorists Injured

Prior: 911.1%

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 patterns for crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Wednesday, with 12 crashes in December 2021, to Friday, with 11 crashes in December 2022. The peak hour also shifted from 10 AM in December 2021 to 4 PM in December 2022, with both peak hours recording 7 crashes.

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

Fatalities increased from 0 in December 2021 to 1 in December 2022, resulting in a fatal crash rate of 2.08% in the current period. Total injuries saw a slight increase from 9 in December 2021 to 10 in December 2022. The proportion of serious injuries remained at 1 crash, representing 1.8% of crashes in December 2021 and 2.1% in December 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes2.1%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.1%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes8.3%
0.0%prior 4
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes6.3%
0.0%prior 3
No Injury39no injury crashes81.3%
-11.4%prior 44

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 contributing factor 'No improper driving' decreased significantly from 24 crashes in December 2021 to 11 crashes in December 2022, a 54.2% reduction. 'Inattention' also saw a decrease, falling from 12 crashes to 9 crashes, a 25% reduction year-over-year. 'Failed to yield right of way' remained constant at 5 crashes in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving11 (22.9%)-54.2%prior 24
Inattention9 (18.8%)-25.0%prior 12
Failed to yield right of way5 (10.4%)0.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (4.2%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (2.1%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (2.1%)
Illness1 (2.1%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (2.1%)
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (2.1%)
Followed too closely1 (2.1%)

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 in 'Clear' weather conditions decreased slightly from 36 in December 2021 to 34 in December 2022. Conversely, crashes during 'Rain' increased from 3 to 5. The number of crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions decreased from 14 to 10.

Weather

Clear34 (70.8%)
-5.6%prior 36
Rain5 (10.4%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (4.2%)
Cloudy2 (4.2%)
-71.4%prior 7
Cloudy/Clear1 (2.1%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (2.1%)
Clear/Rain1 (2.1%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (2.1%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (2.1%)

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

Lighting

Daylight35 (72.9%)
2.9%prior 34
Dark - lighted roadway10 (20.8%)
-28.6%prior 14
Dawn2 (4.2%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (2.1%)
-80.0%prior 5

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

Road Surface

Dry33 (68.8%)
-17.5%prior 40
Wet13 (27.1%)
-13.3%prior 15
Snow2 (4.2%)

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 decreased by 14.9%, from 101 in December 2021 to 86 in December 2022. While FORD vehicles remained constant at 13 involved in crashes, TOYOTA saw a decrease from 17 to 11, and HYUNDAI increased from 3 to 6. The 65+ age group saw a decrease in persons involved from 23 to 17, while the 21-25 age group increased from 7 to 11.

Top Vehicle Makes (86 vehicles)

1
FORD13 (15.1%)
0.0%prior 13
2
TOYOTA11 (12.8%)
-35.3%prior 17
3
CHEVROLET8 (9.3%)
-20.0%prior 10
4
JEEP7 (8.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
5
HONDA7 (8.1%)
0.0%prior 7
6
HYUNDAI6 (7%)
7
SUBARU3 (3.5%)
8
BUIC3 (3.5%)
9
GMC3 (3.5%)
10
NISSAN2 (2.3%)
-66.7%prior 6

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

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

Sex Distribution (96 persons with recorded sex)

Male51 (53.1%)
-28.2%prior 71
Female45 (46.9%)
2.3%prior 44

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 25 mph speed zones increased from 11 in December 2021 to 21 in December 2022. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph speed zones decreased from 22 to 10. A fatal crash occurred in a 65 mph speed zone in December 2022, where no fatal crashes were recorded in this zone in December 2021.

Fatal crashes by zone: 65 mph: 1 of 2 (50%)

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: BELLINGHAM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 48
  • Total persons involved: 99
  • Total vehicles involved: 86

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). "BELLINGHAM, 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/bellingham/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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Bellingham, MA Crash Report — December 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com