ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · NEEDHAM, MA · 2022
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/needham/2022-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
507 CRASHES IN
NEEDHAM, MA
2022
In 2022, Needham recorded 507 total crashes, an 11.7% increase from the 454 crashes documented in 2021. While the number of fatalities decreased from two to one year-over-year, the number of people injured rose by 35.1%, from 97 in 2021 to 131 in 2022. The most significant percentage change was observed in crashes involving a driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, which increased from 7 to 13 incidents.
507
▲ 11.7%was 454
Total Crash Events
1
▼ -50.0%was 2
Persons Killed
131
▲ 35.1%was 97
Persons Injured
22
▲ 57.1%was 14
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Crash data for Needham indicates a rising trend in 2022 compared to the prior year. Total collisions increased by 11.7%, from 454 to 507. This was accompanied by a 35.1% increase in total injuries, which grew from 97 to 131, while fatalities declined from two to one.
22
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022
▲ 57.1% vs prior (14)
Hit-and-run crashes increased in both absolute numbers and as a proportion of total crashes in 2022. The count of hit-and-run incidents rose from 14 in 2021 to 22 in 2022, a 57.1% increase in volume. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate trended upward, increasing from 3.1% of all crashes in the prior year to 4.3% in the current year.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
2
Pedestrians Injured
12
Cyclists Injured
116
Motorists Injured
1
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between 2021 and 2022. The peak day for collisions moved from Friday (83 incidents) in 2021 to Wednesday (95 incidents) in 2022. Similarly, the most common time for a crash shifted an hour earlier, from the 4 PM hour in 2021 (50 crashes) to the 3 PM hour in 2022 (56 crashes).
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
While the number of fatal crashes remained stable at one incident in both 2021 and 2022, the overall severity of non-fatal crashes increased. The count of serious injury crashes more than doubled from 5 to 12, with their share of total crashes rising from 1.1% to 2.4%. The proportions of both minor and possible injury crashes also increased, while the share of crashes resulting in no injury fell from 80.2% in 2021 to 76.1% in 2022.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The ranking of top contributing factors changed year-over-year. 'Inattention' became the leading factor in 2022 with 85 incidents, an 18.1% increase in count from 72 in the prior year. 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a 37.5% increase in count, rising from 56 to 77 incidents. In contrast, crashes with 'No improper driving' cited as the main factor decreased by 17.4% in count, from 92 to 76, falling from the top-ranked factor in 2021 to third place in 2022.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
In both periods, the vast majority of crashes occurred in clear weather and during daylight hours, with these proportions remaining stable year-over-year. For instance, daylight crashes accounted for 74.7% of incidents in 2021 and 75.1% in 2022. A notable shift occurred in lighting conditions, where the proportion of crashes taking place on dark but lighted roadways increased from 11.9% of all incidents in 2021 to 15.0% in 2022.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes—Toyota, Honda, and Ford—were the same in both years, and all saw an increase in total incidents. An analysis of persons involved in crashes reveals a demographic shift, with the number of individuals in the 65+ age group increasing from 124 in 2021 to 173 in 2022. This represents a growth in their share of all persons involved from 12.8% to 15.9% year-over-year.
Top Vehicle Makes (938 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
69 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (1,014 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The distribution of crashes across different speed zones shifted notably between 2021 and 2022. The number of collisions in 30 mph zones increased from 226 to 321, while crashes in 55 mph zones decreased from 123 to 102. The single fatal crash in 2022 occurred in a 30 mph zone, which is where the fatal crash in the prior year also took place.
Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 321 (0.312%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31 (365 days)
- Geographic scope: NEEDHAM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 507
- Total persons involved: 1,090
- Total vehicles involved: 938
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). "NEEDHAM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/needham/2022-annual-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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2022-01-01 – 2022-12-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved