Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

19 CRASHES IN
LEICESTER, MA
AUGUST 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2021

In August 2022, LEICESTER experienced 19 total crashes, an 18.75% increase compared to the 16 crashes recorded in August 2021. Total injuries remained constant at 6 for both periods, while fatal crashes remained at zero. A notable shift includes the emergence of one hit-and-run crash in the current period, compared to none in the prior year.

19

18.8%was 16

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in LEICESTER show an upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing from 16 in August 2021 to 19 in August 2022. This represents an 18.75% rise in crash occurrences during the selected month. Despite this increase in crash count, the total number of injuries remained stable at 6 in both periods.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2022

5.3% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 60.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns for crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in August 2021 (4 crashes) to Monday in August 2022 (5 crashes). The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 4 p.m. with 2 crashes in the prior period to 3 p.m. with 6 crashes in the current period. This indicates a concentration of crash activity earlier in the afternoon during the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at zero in both August 2021 and August 2022. The total number of injured persons also remained consistent at 6 across both periods. However, the distribution of injury severity changed, with minor injury crashes decreasing their share from 31.3% (5 crashes) in the prior period to 15.8% (3 crashes) in the current period, while possible injury crashes appeared with a 5.3% share (1 crash) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes15.8%
-40.0%prior 5
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes5.3%
No Injury14no injury crashes73.7%
40.0%prior 10

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factor shifted from 'No improper driving' (4 crashes) in August 2021 to 'Inattention' (5 crashes) in August 2022. Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 2, from 3 crashes in the prior period to 5 crashes in the current period. Conversely, 'No improper driving' crashes decreased by 1, from 4 to 3, and 'Followed too closely' crashes increased by 1, from 1 to 2. Several factors present in the prior period, such as 'Fatigued/asleep' and 'Illness', were not reported in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention5 (26.3%)
No improper driving3 (15.8%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (10.5%)
Followed too closely2 (10.5%)
Operating defective equipment1 (5.3%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (5.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (5.3%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (5.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Clear weather remained the dominant condition for crashes, increasing from 12 incidents in August 2021 to 16 in August 2022. Crashes occurring in rainy conditions increased from 1 (Rain/Cloudy) to 2 (Rain), while cloudy conditions saw a decrease from 3 to 1 crash. The number of crashes on wet road surfaces increased from 1 to 2, and daylight crashes rose from 15 to 17, with dusk crashes appearing as a new category in the current period.

Weather

Clear16 (84.2%)
33.3%prior 12
Rain2 (10.5%)
Cloudy1 (5.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight17 (89.5%)
13.3%prior 15
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (5.3%)
Dusk1 (5.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry16 (88.9%)
6.7%prior 15
Wet2 (11.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (32 vehicles)

1
FORD6 (18.8%)
20.0%prior 5
2
CHEVROLET5 (15.6%)
-16.7%prior 6
3
HONDA4 (12.5%)
4
JEEP3 (9.4%)
5
NISSAN2 (6.3%)
6
TOYOTA2 (6.3%)
7
MAZDA1 (3.1%)
8
SAA1 (3.1%)
9
BMW1 (3.1%)
10
VOLVO1 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (40 persons with recorded sex)

Male22 (55.0%)
22.2%prior 18
Female18 (45.0%)
50.0%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed zone saw the largest increase, rising from 5 incidents in August 2021 to 9 in August 2022. Crashes in the 35 mph zone remained stable at 6 for both periods, while the 40 mph zone experienced a decrease from 3 to 2 crashes. The prior period included crashes in 15 mph and 50 mph zones, which were absent in the current period, while the current period introduced crashes in 25 mph and 45 mph zones.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · 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: 2022-08-01 through 2022-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-08-01 through 2022-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: LEICESTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 19
  • Total persons involved: 43
  • Total vehicles involved: 32

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). "LEICESTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: August 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/leicester/august-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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Leicester, MA Crash Report — August 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com