Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

141 CRASHES IN
BERLIN, MA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In 2022, Berlin recorded 141 total crashes, a 6.8% increase from the 132 crashes reported in 2021. Despite the overall increase in collisions, the most significant year-over-year change was the reduction in traffic fatalities, which decreased from one in 2021 to zero in 2022.

141

6.8%was 132

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

47

-9.6%was 52

Persons Injured

1

-80.0%was 5

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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, traffic crashes in Berlin increased by 6.8%, rising from 132 in 2021 to 141 in 2022. However, the severity of these incidents lessened, with total injuries decreasing by 9.6% from 52 to 47 and fatalities falling from one to zero.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022

-80.0% vs prior (5)

The number of hit-and-run incidents decreased significantly, falling from 5 crashes in 2021 to just 1 crash in 2022. This corresponds to a drop in the hit-and-run rate from 3.8% of all crashes in the prior year to 0.7% in the current year, indicating a positive downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

46

Motorists Injured

Prior: 52-11.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods, with a notable increase in weekend incidents. The peak day for crashes moved from Thursday in 2021 (25 crashes) to Saturday in 2022 (31 crashes). The peak hour for incidents also shifted slightly earlier, from the 4 p.m. hour in the prior year (13 crashes) to the 3 p.m. hour in the current year (15 crashes).

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity decreased notably from 2021 to 2022. The city recorded zero fatal crashes in 2022, down from one fatal crash in the prior year. The proportion of crashes resulting in serious or minor injuries also declined, with serious injury crashes falling from 8.3% to 5.7% of the total and minor injury crashes dropping from 15.2% to 7.8%. Consequently, the share of non-injury crashes increased from 65.2% in 2021 to 73.8% in 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury8serious injury crashes5.7%
-27.3%prior 11
Minor Injury11minor injury crashes7.8%
-45.0%prior 20
Possible Injury16possible injury crashes11.3%
23.1%prior 13
No Injury104no injury crashes73.8%
20.9%prior 86

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors remained consistent, with 'No improper driving,' 'Inattention,' and 'Followed too closely' leading in both years. The count of crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' increased from 14 in 2021 to 19 in 2022, making it the second most-cited factor. Crashes where 'No improper driving' was cited also increased in count from 21 to 30. The number of crashes linked to 'Inattention' remained stable at 16 incidents in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving30 (21.3%)42.9%prior 21
Followed too closely19 (13.5%)35.7%prior 14
Inattention16 (11.3%)0.0%prior 16
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road13 (9.2%)30.0%prior 10
Failed to yield right of way12 (8.5%)-7.7%prior 13
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner6 (4.3%)-14.3%prior 7
Exceeded authorized speed limit5 (3.5%)
Distracted4 (2.8%)
Fatigued/asleep4 (2.8%)
Made an improper turn4 (2.8%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in both years predominantly occurred in clear weather and daylight on dry roads. In 2022, the proportion of crashes on dry road surfaces increased to 73.0% from 70.5% in 2021. However, crashes on icy roads increased from 2 incidents in 2021 to 6 in 2022, while crashes in darkness on unlighted roadways rose from 19 to 24.

Weather

Clear83 (61.0%)
16.9%prior 71
Cloudy13 (9.6%)
-23.5%prior 17
Rain8 (5.9%)
0.0%prior 8
Snow7 (5.1%)
-30.0%prior 10
Clear/Cloudy4 (2.9%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow4 (2.9%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (2.2%)
Clear/Other3 (2.2%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (2.2%)
-66.7%prior 9
Clear/Unknown2 (1.5%)

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

Lighting

Daylight96 (68.1%)
9.1%prior 88
Dark - roadway not lighted24 (17.0%)
26.3%prior 19
Dark - lighted roadway10 (7.1%)
-28.6%prior 14
Dusk8 (5.7%)
-11.1%prior 9
Dawn3 (2.1%)

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

Road Surface

Dry103 (73.0%)
10.8%prior 93
Wet18 (12.8%)
-25.0%prior 24
Snow13 (9.2%)
0.0%prior 13
Ice6 (4.3%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes were Toyota, Honda, and Ford in both periods, with their rankings slightly changing. A more significant shift occurred in the age distribution of persons involved; the 26-34 age group's involvement increased from 49 people in 2021 to 63 in 2022. Conversely, the number of individuals in the 16-20 age group involved in crashes decreased from 49 to 36.

Top Vehicle Makes (227 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA40 (17.6%)
14.3%prior 35
2
FORD31 (13.7%)
24.0%prior 25
3
HONDA28 (12.3%)
-15.2%prior 33
4
NISSAN13 (5.7%)
-43.5%prior 23
5
CHEVROLET11 (4.8%)
-26.7%prior 15
6
DODGE9 (4%)
80.0%prior 5
7
GMC8 (3.5%)
60.0%prior 5
8
HYUNDAI8 (3.5%)
33.3%prior 6
9
ACURA7 (3.1%)
10
JEEP6 (2.6%)
-14.3%prior 7

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

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

Sex Distribution (289 persons with recorded sex)

Male175 (60.6%)
24.1%prior 141
Female114 (39.4%)
8.6%prior 105

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

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones remained largely consistent, with the 40 mph zone accounting for the most incidents in both 2021 (51 crashes) and 2022 (43 crashes). The single fatal crash in 2021 occurred in a 40 mph zone. A notable increase was observed in crashes within 35 mph zones, which rose from 19 incidents in 2021 to 25 in 2022.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: BERLIN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 141
  • Total persons involved: 312
  • Total vehicles involved: 227

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