Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

10 CRASHES IN
BERLIN, MA
SEPTEMBER 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2024

Total crashes in BERLIN decreased by 37.5%, from 16 in September 2024 to 10 in September 2025. The most significant year-over-year shift was the increase in total fatalities, from 0 in the prior period to 1 in the current period.

10

-37.5%was 16

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

2

-50.0%was 4

Persons Injured

0

-100.0%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 · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in BERLIN saw a notable decrease year-over-year, with a 37.5% reduction in total crashes, from 16 to 10. However, despite the decrease in total crashes, the number of fatalities increased from 0 to 1, and total injuries decreased by 50%, from 4 to 2.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

2

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4-50.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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 Friday with 5 crashes in September 2024 to Saturday with 2 crashes in September 2025. Similarly, the peak crash hour moved from 2 PM with 3 crashes in the prior period to 10 PM with 1 crash in the current period, indicating a shift in when crashes are most frequent.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 0 in September 2024 to 1 in September 2025, representing 10% of all crashes in the current period. Total injuries decreased by 50%, from 4 in the prior period to 2 in the current period. The proportion of crashes resulting in no injury increased from 62.5% to 80% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes10%
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes10%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury8no injury crashes80%
-20.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The 'Followed too closely' factor increased in count from 1 crash in September 2024 to 3 crashes in September 2025. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 3 crashes to 1 crash. 'No improper driving' was the top factor in the prior period with 5 crashes, but it was not among the top factors in the current period, which instead saw 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' and 'Wrong side or wrong way' each contributing 1 crash.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely3 (30%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (10%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (10%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (10%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring in adverse weather conditions remained stable, with 20% in the current period and 18.75% in the prior period. Crashes in dark lighting conditions slightly increased from 25% of total crashes in September 2024 to 30% in September 2025. The proportion of crashes on wet road surfaces decreased from 25% in the prior period to 20% in the current period.

Weather

Clear6 (60.0%)
-40.0%prior 10
Clear/Clear1 (10.0%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (10.0%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (10.0%)
Rain1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight7 (70.0%)
-30.0%prior 10
Dark - lighted roadway1 (10.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (10.0%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry8 (80.0%)
-33.3%prior 12
Wet2 (20.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (18 vehicles)

1
HONDA5 (27.8%)
0.0%prior 5
2
BMW3 (16.7%)
3
HYUNDAI2 (11.1%)
4
GMC2 (11.1%)
5
HD1 (5.6%)
6
FORD1 (5.6%)
7
KIA1 (5.6%)
8
LEXUS1 (5.6%)
9
NISSAN1 (5.6%)
10
TOYOTA1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

Sex Distribution (24 persons with recorded sex)

Female12 (50.0%)
-29.4%prior 17
Male12 (50.0%)
-36.8%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 35 MPH zones decreased from 6 in September 2024 to 1 in September 2025. Crashes in 40 MPH zones decreased from 5 to 2, but the single fatal crash in the current period occurred in a 40 MPH zone, whereas no fatal crashes occurred in this zone in the prior period. The 20 MPH zone appeared in the current period with 2 crashes, while the 15 MPH and 30 MPH zones present in the prior period's data were not present in the current period.

Fatal crashes by zone: 40 mph: 1 of 2 (50%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · 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: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-09-01 through 2025-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: BERLIN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 10
  • Total persons involved: 24
  • Total vehicles involved: 18

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: September 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/berlin/september-2025-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 — September 2025 | ThatCarHitMe.com