Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

68 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
APRIL 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2021

In April 2022, Chelsea experienced 68 total crashes, an increase from 58 crashes in April 2021, representing a 17.2% rise. The most notable year-over-year shift was the increase in total crashes and the emergence of serious injuries, which were not reported in the prior period. Total injuries also saw a slight increase from 20 to 21.

68

17.2%was 58

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

21

5.0%was 20

Persons Injured

1

-50.0%was 2

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates an increase in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes rising from 58 in April 2021 to 68 in April 2022, an increase of 10 crashes. Total injuries also saw a slight increase of 1, from 20 to 21, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2022

-50.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 2 incidents in April 2021 to 1 incident in April 2022. This resulted in a decrease in the hit-and-run rate from 3.4% to 1.5% year-over-year, indicating a downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

19

Motorists Injured

Prior: 190.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · 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 13 crashes in April 2021 to Monday with 14 crashes in April 2022. The peak hour also changed, moving from 5 PM with 6 crashes in April 2021 to 3 PM with 8 crashes in April 2022. This indicates a shift in the busiest times for crash occurrences.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crash rates remained at 0% in both April 2021 and April 2022. Serious injury crashes, coded 'A', were reported in April 2022 with 2 incidents (2.9% of crashes), while none were reported in April 2021. Possible injury crashes, coded 'C', increased from 5 (8.6% of crashes) in April 2021 to 10 (14.7% of crashes) in April 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury2serious injury crashes2.9%
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes7.4%
0.0%prior 5
Possible Injury10possible injury crashes14.7%
100.0%prior 5
No Injury46no injury crashes67.6%
12.2%prior 41

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'No improper driving' increased by 7 crashes, from 16 in April 2021 to 23 in April 2022. Conversely, 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 4 crashes in April 2021 to 1 crash in April 2022. 'Followed too closely' remained consistent with 3 crashes in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving23 (33.8%)43.8%prior 16
Followed too closely3 (4.4%)
Physical impairment2 (2.9%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner2 (2.9%)
Made an improper turn1 (1.5%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (1.5%)
Other improper action1 (1.5%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (1.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (1.5%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 40 in April 2021 to 50 in April 2022. Incidents during 'Daylight' conditions also rose significantly from 35 to 54 crashes year-over-year. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased from 51 to 62, while those on 'Wet' surfaces slightly decreased from 7 to 6.

Weather

Clear50 (73.5%)
25.0%prior 40
Cloudy11 (16.2%)
10.0%prior 10
Rain3 (4.4%)
Clear/Other2 (2.9%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.5%)
Rain/Unknown1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight54 (79.4%)
54.3%prior 35
Dark - lighted roadway12 (17.6%)
-29.4%prior 17
Dawn2 (2.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry62 (91.2%)
21.6%prior 51
Wet6 (8.8%)
-14.3%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 115 in April 2021 to 137 in April 2022. HONDA vehicles involved increased from 18 to 29, becoming the top make in April 2022, while TOYOTA vehicles slightly decreased from 26 to 25. The 26-34 age group saw a rise in persons involved, from 30 to 40, and the 45-54 age group nearly doubled from 17 to 33.

Top Vehicle Makes (137 vehicles)

1
HONDA29 (21.2%)
61.1%prior 18
2
TOYOTA25 (18.2%)
-3.8%prior 26
3
FORD21 (15.3%)
90.9%prior 11
4
NISSAN9 (6.6%)
12.5%prior 8
5
JEEP8 (5.8%)
6
CHEVROLET5 (3.6%)
-28.6%prior 7
7
DODGE4 (2.9%)
8
BMW4 (2.9%)
9
ACURA3 (2.2%)
10
VOLKSWAGEN2 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (155 persons with recorded sex)

Male97 (62.6%)
12.8%prior 86
Female58 (37.4%)
48.7%prior 39

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 25 mph speed zones increased from 32 in April 2021 to 52 in April 2022. Conversely, crashes in 20 mph zones decreased from 10 to 6 over the same period. Fatal rates remained 0% across all speed zones in both April 2021 and April 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · 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: 2022-04-01 through 2022-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-04-01 through 2022-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 68
  • Total persons involved: 176
  • Total vehicles involved: 137

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). "CHELSEA, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/april-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Chelsea, MA Crash Report — April 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com