Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

97 CRASHES IN
METHUEN, MA
FEBRUARY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2021

Total crashes in METHUEN for February 2022 were 97, a significant increase from 54 crashes in February 2021. This represents a 79.6% year-over-year increase in overall crash incidents. The most notable shift was the substantial rise in crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' and 'Inattention' as contributing factors.

97

79.6%was 54

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

35

16.7%was 30

Persons Injured

5

150.0%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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

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 crash activity in METHUEN showed a substantial upward trend, with total crashes increasing by 79.6% from 54 in February 2021 to 97 in February 2022. This indicates a significant rise in traffic incidents year-over-year.

5

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2022

150.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run crashes increased by 3, from 2 in February 2021 to 5 in February 2022, representing a 150% rise in count. Concurrently, the hit-and-run rate increased by 1.5 percentage points, from 3.7% to 5.2% of all crashes. This indicates an upward trend in hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

35

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3016.7%

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

The peak day for crashes shifted from Sunday with 11 crashes in February 2021 to Saturday with 20 crashes in February 2022. The peak crash hour also changed from 1 PM with 7 crashes in the prior period to 2 PM with 10 crashes in the current period, indicating a slight shift in peak activity times.

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

While no fatalities occurred in either period, the severity distribution of injuries changed. Serious injuries (Code A) increased from 0 in February 2021 to 1 in February 2022, and minor injuries (Code B) rose from 7 to 12. Conversely, possible injuries (Code C) decreased from 15 to 9, despite the overall increase in total crashes and injuries.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1%
Minor Injury12minor injury crashes12.4%
71.4%prior 7
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes9.3%
-40.0%prior 15
No Injury72no injury crashes74.2%
132.3%prior 31

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

Crashes where 'Followed too closely' was a contributing factor increased by 9, from 6 in February 2021 to 15 in February 2022, representing a 150% rise in count. 'Inattention' also saw a significant increase, rising by 11 crashes from 2 to 13, a 550% increase in count. 'Driving too fast for conditions' crashes more than doubled, increasing by 6 from 4 to 10 (150% increase in count).

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too closely15 (15.5%)150.0%prior 6
No improper driving13 (13.4%)8.3%prior 12
Inattention13 (13.4%)
Failed to yield right of way11 (11.3%)22.2%prior 9
Driving too fast for conditions10 (10.3%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road9 (9.3%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings4 (4.1%)
Other improper action3 (3.1%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (3.1%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (2.1%)

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 on dry road surfaces increased from 22 in February 2021 to 50 in February 2022, and those on wet surfaces rose from 7 to 24. There was a notable decrease in crashes on snowy roads, from 13 to 6, while crashes on icy roads increased from 9 to 12. Crashes occurring in daylight conditions increased from 22 to 53, and those in dark but lighted roadways rose from 17 to 25.

Weather

Clear/Clear36 (37.1%)
125.0%prior 16
Clear29 (29.9%)
141.7%prior 12
Snow/Snow5 (5.2%)
-44.4%prior 9
Cloudy5 (5.2%)
Rain/Rain5 (5.2%)
Snow4 (4.1%)
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (3.1%)
Cloudy/Rain3 (3.1%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (2.1%)
Rain2 (2.1%)

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

Lighting

Daylight53 (54.6%)
140.9%prior 22
Dark - lighted roadway25 (25.8%)
47.1%prior 17
Dark - roadway not lighted10 (10.3%)
25.0%prior 8
Dawn4 (4.1%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (2.1%)
Dusk2 (2.1%)
-60.0%prior 5
Other1 (1.0%)

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

Road Surface

Dry50 (51.5%)
127.3%prior 22
Wet24 (24.7%)
242.9%prior 7
Ice12 (12.4%)
33.3%prior 9
Snow6 (6.2%)
-53.8%prior 13
Slush3 (3.1%)
Water (standing, moving)2 (2.1%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 82, from 96 in February 2021 to 178 in February 2022, an 85.4% rise. Honda remained the top make involved, with its count increasing from 26 to 45. Chevrolet saw a significant increase in involvement, rising from 3 vehicles in February 2021 to 16 in February 2022.

Top Vehicle Makes (178 vehicles)

1
HONDA45 (25.3%)
73.1%prior 26
2
TOYOTA24 (13.5%)
84.6%prior 13
3
CHEVROLET16 (9%)
4
FORD11 (6.2%)
-8.3%prior 12
5
NISSAN9 (5.1%)
6
HYUNDAI8 (4.5%)
7
SUBARU7 (3.9%)
8
JEEP7 (3.9%)
9
VOLKSWAGEN6 (3.4%)
10
ACURA6 (3.4%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (211 persons with recorded sex)

Male120 (56.9%)
114.3%prior 56
Female91 (43.1%)
51.7%prior 60

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 in 30 mph zones saw a substantial increase, rising from 8 in February 2021 to 30 in February 2022. Crashes in 55 mph zones also increased significantly, from 3 to 13. While crashes occurred across various speed limits in both periods, there were no fatal crashes reported in any speed zone during either period.

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: METHUEN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 97
  • Total persons involved: 223
  • Total vehicles involved: 178

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). "METHUEN, 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/methuen/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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Methuen, MA Crash Report — February 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com