Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

65 CRASHES IN
CHELSEA, MA
MAY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2021

Total crashes in Chelsea decreased from 77 in May 2021 to 65 in May 2022, representing a 15.6% reduction year-over-year. A significant change was the absence of speeding-related crashes in May 2022, down from 5 such incidents in May 2021.

65

-15.6%was 77

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

18

-35.7%was 28

Persons Injured

1

-66.7%was 3

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

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash trends in Chelsea show a decrease year-over-year. Total crashes fell by 15.6%, from 77 in May 2021 to 65 in May 2022. Similarly, total injuries decreased by 35.7%, from 28 to 18 over the same period.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2022

-66.7% vs prior (3)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased significantly, from 3 incidents in May 2021 to 1 in May 2022. The hit-and-run rate also decreased from 3.9% of total crashes in May 2021 to 1.5% in May 2022. This represents a 66.7% reduction in the number of hit-and-run crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

15

Motorists Injured

Prior: 24-37.5%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · 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 Sunday in May 2021 (15 crashes) to Saturday in May 2022 (15 crashes). The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 4 PM with 8 crashes in May 2021 to 8 PM with 6 crashes in May 2022. Crashes on Tuesdays decreased from 12 in May 2021 to 8 in May 2022, while Friday crashes decreased from 10 to 4.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero in both May 2021 and May 2022. Total injuries decreased by 35.7%, from 28 in May 2021 to 18 in May 2022. There were no serious injuries (A) reported in May 2022, compared to 3 serious injuries in May 2021. Minor injuries (B) decreased from 10 to 6, while possible injuries (C) remained constant at 9 for both periods.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury6minor injury crashes9.2%
-40.0%prior 10
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes13.8%
0.0%prior 9
No Injury46no injury crashes70.8%
-8.0%prior 50

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

No improper driving remained the most frequent contributing factor, with 22 crashes in May 2022 compared to 23 in May 2021. Crashes attributed to Inattention decreased by 50%, from 6 in May 2021 to 3 in May 2022. Exceeded authorized speed limit was a factor in 3 crashes in May 2021 but was not reported in May 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving22 (33.8%)-4.3%prior 23
Inattention3 (4.6%)-50.0%prior 6
Failed to yield right of way2 (3.1%)
Other improper action2 (3.1%)
Followed too closely1 (1.5%)
Physical impairment1 (1.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in Clear weather decreased from 60 in May 2021 to 54 in May 2022. Crashes during Rain decreased from 7 to 3. Crashes on Dry road surfaces decreased from 65 to 54, while those on Wet surfaces decreased slightly from 11 to 10. Crashes during Daylight decreased from 54 to 38, while crashes in Dark - lighted roadway conditions remained at 20 for both periods.

Weather

Clear54 (84.4%)
-10.0%prior 60
Rain3 (4.7%)
-57.1%prior 7
Cloudy3 (4.7%)
Clear/Unknown1 (1.6%)
Clear/Blowing sand, snow1 (1.6%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (1.6%)
Clear/Other1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight38 (59.4%)
-29.6%prior 54
Dark - lighted roadway20 (31.3%)
0.0%prior 20
Dusk3 (4.7%)
Dawn2 (3.1%)
Other1 (1.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry54 (84.4%)
-16.9%prior 65
Wet10 (15.6%)
-9.1%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased from 143 in May 2021 to 130 in May 2022. While TOYOTA, HONDA, and FORD remained the top three vehicle makes involved, HONDA became the most frequent in May 2022 (33) compared to TOYOTA in May 2021 (29). The 26-34 age group continued to have the highest number of persons involved in crashes, decreasing from 37 to 34.

Top Vehicle Makes (130 vehicles)

1
HONDA33 (25.4%)
73.7%prior 19
2
TOYOTA25 (19.2%)
-13.8%prior 29
3
FORD20 (15.4%)
11.1%prior 18
4
NISSAN10 (7.7%)
-9.1%prior 11
5
CHEVROLET6 (4.6%)
-33.3%prior 9
6
JEEP4 (3.1%)
-42.9%prior 7
7
OTH3 (2.3%)
8
SUBARU3 (2.3%)
-50.0%prior 6
9
ACURA2 (1.5%)
-60.0%prior 5
10
CHRYSLER2 (1.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (141 persons with recorded sex)

Male97 (68.8%)
-10.2%prior 108
Female44 (31.2%)
-20.0%prior 55

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased from 55 in May 2021 to 48 in May 2022. Crashes in 40 mph zones decreased from 5 to 2, and in 45 mph zones from 4 to 1. There were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · 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: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHELSEA, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 65
  • Total persons involved: 162
  • Total vehicles involved: 130

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: May 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chelsea/may-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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Chelsea, MA Crash Report — May 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com