Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

158 CRASHES IN
CHICOPEE, MA
JULY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2021

Total crashes in CHICOPEE decreased by 4.82%, from 166 in July 2021 to 158 in July 2022. Despite this overall decrease, total fatalities significantly increased by 200%, rising from 1 in the prior period to 3 in the current period. This marks a concerning shift in crash outcomes, with fewer crashes resulting in a higher number of deaths.

158

-4.8%was 166

Total Crash Events

3

200.0%was 1

Persons Killed

58

-17.1%was 70

Persons Injured

26

18.2%was 22

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 12 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in CHICOPEE decreased by 4.82% year-over-year, from 166 in July 2021 to 158 in July 2022. However, total fatalities increased by 200%, from 1 to 3, indicating a more severe outcome for the crashes that did occur. Total injuries also saw a decrease, falling from 70 to 58.

26

Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2022

18.2% vs prior (22)

Hit-and-run crashes increased by 18.18%, from 22 in July 2021 to 26 in July 2022. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate rose from 13.3% of total crashes in the prior period to 16.5% in the current period. This indicates an upward trend in the proportion and count of hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1200.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3-33.3%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

55

Motorists Injured

Prior: 66-16.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

Friday remained the peak day for crashes in both periods, although the count decreased from 39 in July 2021 to 29 in July 2022. The peak hour for crashes shifted from 2 PM, with 19 incidents in the prior period, to 1 PM, with 16 incidents in the current period. This suggests a slight shift in the timing of peak crash activity.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes increased from 1 (0.6% of total crashes) in July 2021 to 2 (1.3% of total crashes) in July 2022, indicating a higher fatal crash rate. While serious injury crashes remained stable at 5 in both periods, minor injury crashes decreased from 30 to 25. The overall proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) decreased from 30.1% in the prior period to 28.5% in the current period.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 2 fatal crash events resulted in 3 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes1.3%
100.0%prior 1
Serious Injury5serious injury crashes3.2%
0.0%prior 5
Minor Injury25minor injury crashes15.8%
-16.7%prior 30
Possible Injury15possible injury crashes9.5%
0.0%prior 15
No Injury99no injury crashes62.7%
-3.9%prior 103

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, "No improper driving," decreased by 12 crashes, from 45 in July 2021 to 33 in July 2022. "Inattention" remained consistent at 24 crashes in both periods. Conversely, crashes attributed to "Followed too closely" increased by 3, from 14 to 17, while "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" decreased by 5 crashes, from 11 to 6.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving33 (20.9%)-26.7%prior 45
Inattention24 (15.2%)0.0%prior 24
Followed too closely17 (10.8%)21.4%prior 14
Failed to yield right of way16 (10.1%)-5.9%prior 17
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner8 (5.1%)-11.1%prior 9
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings6 (3.8%)-45.5%prior 11
Other improper action6 (3.8%)-33.3%prior 9
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (3.2%)-16.7%prior 6
Made an improper turn5 (3.2%)
Driving too fast for conditions4 (2.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

There was a significant decrease in wet road crashes, falling from 49 in July 2021 to 15 in July 2022, corresponding with an increase in dry road crashes from 116 to 141. Clear weather conditions were associated with more crashes, rising from 98 to 122, while rain-related crashes decreased from 18 to 6. Crashes occurring in "Dark - lighted roadway" conditions also saw a decrease, from 38 to 25.

Weather

Clear122 (80.3%)
24.5%prior 98
Cloudy11 (7.2%)
-31.3%prior 16
Rain6 (3.9%)
-66.7%prior 18
Cloudy/Rain3 (2.0%)
-82.4%prior 17
Clear/Unknown3 (2.0%)
Clear/Cloudy2 (1.3%)
Rain/Cloudy2 (1.3%)
Unknown/Other1 (0.7%)
Cloudy/Other1 (0.7%)
Cloudy/Unknown1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight124 (81.0%)
1.6%prior 122
Dark - lighted roadway25 (16.3%)
-34.2%prior 38
Dawn2 (1.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (0.7%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry141 (89.8%)
21.6%prior 116
Wet15 (9.6%)
-69.4%prior 49
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

All age groups saw a decrease in the number of persons involved in crashes, with the 45-54 age group experiencing the largest reduction from 51 to 36 persons. Honda remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, though its count decreased from 45 to 39. Toyota also saw a decrease in involvement, from 38 to 34 vehicles.

Top Vehicle Makes (294 vehicles)

1
HONDA39 (13.3%)
-13.3%prior 45
2
TOYOTA34 (11.6%)
-10.5%prior 38
3
FORD26 (8.8%)
-21.2%prior 33
4
NISSAN24 (8.2%)
9.1%prior 22
5
CHEVROLET21 (7.1%)
-27.6%prior 29
6
HYUNDAI18 (6.1%)
-10.0%prior 20
7
JEEP9 (3.1%)
-30.8%prior 13
8
SUBARU7 (2.4%)
-12.5%prior 8
9
BMW7 (2.4%)
40.0%prior 5
10
MERCEDES-BENZ7 (2.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (310 persons with recorded sex)

Male186 (60.0%)
-1.1%prior 188
Female124 (40.0%)
-30.3%prior 178

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone slightly increased from 48 to 50, while crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased from 39 to 34. In July 2021, the single fatal crash occurred in a 50 mph zone, with a 50% fatal rate for that zone. In July 2022, fatal crashes occurred in both 20 mph (1 of 7 crashes, 14.286% fatal rate) and 30 mph zones (1 of 34 crashes, 2.941% fatal rate).

Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 7 (14.286%) · 30 mph: 1 of 34 (2.941%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · 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: 2022-07-01 through 2022-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-07-01 through 2022-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: CHICOPEE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 158
  • Total persons involved: 371
  • Total vehicles involved: 294

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). "CHICOPEE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/chicopee/july-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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Chicopee, MA Crash Report — July 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com