Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

10 CRASHES IN
DALTON, MA
FEBRUARY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2021

In February 2022, Dalton experienced 10 crashes, a 100% increase from the 5 crashes reported in February 2021. A notable shift is the increase in total injuries from 0 in the prior year to 4 in the current period, alongside the emergence of "Failed to yield right of way" as a prominent contributing factor.

10

100.0%was 5

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

4

Persons Injured

1

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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in Dalton increased significantly year-over-year, rising by 100% from 5 crashes in February 2021 to 10 crashes in February 2022. This increase was accompanied by a rise in total injuries, which went from 0 in the prior period to 4 in the current period, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2022

10.0% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

4

Motorists Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

Both February 2021 and February 2022 saw the highest number of crashes occur on a Wednesday. However, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 4p with 2 crashes in February 2021 to 7p with 2 crashes in February 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes30%
No Injury7no injury crashes70%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Contributing factors showed a notable shift year-over-year. "Failed to yield right of way" emerged as a leading factor in February 2022, contributing to 3 crashes (30% share), a factor not listed in the prior period. Similarly, "Inattention" contributed to 2 crashes in February 2022, while factors such as "Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings" and "Distracted" each accounted for 1 crash in February 2021 but were not among the listed factors in February 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way3 (30%)
Inattention2 (20%)
No improper driving1 (10%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (10%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in "Clear" weather conditions increased from 4 in February 2021 to 7 in February 2022. While "Dawn" lighting conditions remained consistent with 2 crashes in both periods, crashes under "Dark - lighted roadway" and "Dark - roadway not lighted" conditions appeared in February 2022, totaling 4 crashes, whereas no dark conditions were listed in February 2021. Regarding road surface, "Dry" conditions saw an increase from 4 crashes to 7 crashes year-over-year, and "Wet" conditions, contributing to 2 crashes in February 2022, were not listed in the prior period.

Weather

Clear7 (70.0%)
Cloudy1 (10.0%)
Rain1 (10.0%)
Snow1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight4 (40.0%)
Dark - lighted roadway3 (30.0%)
Dawn2 (20.0%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry7 (70.0%)
Wet2 (20.0%)
Ice1 (10.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (18 vehicles)

1
HONDA3 (16.7%)
2
TOYOTA3 (16.7%)
3
SUBARU2 (11.1%)
4
JEEP2 (11.1%)
5
GMC1 (5.6%)
6
HYUNDAI1 (5.6%)
7
MAZDA1 (5.6%)
8
BMW1 (5.6%)
9
BUIC1 (5.6%)
10
CHEVROLET1 (5.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (21 persons with recorded sex)

Male13 (61.9%)
85.7%prior 7
Female8 (38.1%)
166.7%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes occurring in 30 mph speed zones saw a significant increase, rising from 3 crashes in February 2021 to 8 crashes in February 2022. The number of crashes in 45 mph zones remained constant at 1 crash in both periods. Crashes in 35 mph zones (1 crash) in February 2021 were not present in February 2022, while crashes in 40 mph zones (1 crash) appeared in February 2022. Fatalities remained at zero across all speed zones in both periods.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · 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: 2022-02-01 through 2022-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-02-01 through 2022-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: DALTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 10
  • Total persons involved: 22
  • 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). "DALTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/dalton/february-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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Dalton, MA Crash Report — February 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com