Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

120 CRASHES IN
NEWTON, MA
APRIL 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstApril 2021

In April 2022, Newton experienced 120 total crashes, marking a 14.3% increase compared to the 105 crashes recorded in April 2021. Despite this overall rise, the most notable shift was a significant decrease in hit-and-run incidents, falling from 22 crashes in the prior period to 10 in the current period. Fatalities remained at zero for both periods, while total injuries saw a slight decrease from 31 to 27.

120

14.3%was 105

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

27

-12.9%was 31

Persons Injured

10

-54.5%was 22

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. 6 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates an increase in total crashes year-over-year, with 120 crashes in April 2022 compared to 105 in April 2021. This represents a 14.3% rise in crash incidents. However, the number of injured persons decreased from 31 to 27.

10

Hit-and-Run Crashes — April 2022

-54.5% vs prior (22)

Hit-and-run crashes experienced a substantial decrease year-over-year, falling from 22 incidents in April 2021 to 10 in April 2022. This reduction led to the hit-and-run crash rate dropping from 21% to 8.3%. The data indicates a positive trend with fewer hit-and-run incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 20.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

24

Motorists Injured

Prior: 28-14.3%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Friday in both periods, with 29 crashes in April 2022 and 31 in April 2021. The peak hour shifted from 2 p.m. with 12 crashes in the prior period to 5 p.m. with 13 crashes in the current period. There was also a notable increase in crashes on Saturdays, rising from 7 to 17 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either April 2022 or April 2021. Serious Injury (A) crashes decreased from 1 in the prior period to 0 in the current period. Minor Injury (B) crashes increased from 13, representing a 12.4% share, to 19, representing a 15.8% share, while Possible Injury (C) crashes decreased from 9 (8.6% share) to 3 (2.5% share).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury19minor injury crashes15.8%
46.2%prior 13
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes2.5%
-66.7%prior 9
No Injury92no injury crashes76.7%
19.5%prior 77

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor shifted from 'Followed too closely' (18 crashes) in the prior period to 'No improper driving' (29 crashes) in the current period, marking a 93.3% increase in count for the latter. 'Inattention' crashes increased by 23.5% in count, rising from 17 to 21 year-over-year. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' crashes decreased by 22.2% in count, from 18 to 14.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving29 (24.2%)93.3%prior 15
Inattention21 (17.5%)23.5%prior 17
Followed too closely14 (11.7%)-22.2%prior 18
Failed to yield right of way6 (5%)-25.0%prior 8
Driving too fast for conditions4 (3.3%)
Fatigued/asleep3 (2.5%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road3 (2.5%)-50.0%prior 6
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (2.5%)
Other improper action3 (2.5%)
Made an improper turn2 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased from 68 to 90 year-over-year, while those in 'Rain' decreased from 13 to 9. The number of crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces rose from 84 to 104. Crashes occurring during 'Daylight' conditions also increased from 88 to 97, suggesting a shift towards crashes in more favorable environmental conditions.

Weather

Clear90 (76.3%)
32.4%prior 68
Rain9 (7.6%)
-30.8%prior 13
Clear/Clear8 (6.8%)
60.0%prior 5
Cloudy7 (5.9%)
-30.0%prior 10
Cloudy/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.7%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (0.8%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight97 (80.8%)
10.2%prior 88
Dark - lighted roadway19 (15.8%)
46.2%prior 13
Dawn2 (1.7%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (0.8%)
Dusk1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry104 (87.4%)
23.8%prior 84
Wet14 (11.8%)
-17.6%prior 17
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 202 in April 2021 to 228 in April 2022. Toyota, Honda, and Ford remained the top three vehicle makes involved, with counts for each increasing year-over-year. The age distribution of persons involved showed a significant increase in the 26-34 age group, rising from 42 to 62, and in the 35-44 age group, increasing from 31 to 41.

Top Vehicle Makes (228 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA42 (18.4%)
13.5%prior 37
2
HONDA31 (13.6%)
29.2%prior 24
3
FORD30 (13.2%)
66.7%prior 18
4
CHEVROLET12 (5.3%)
-25.0%prior 16
5
JEEP10 (4.4%)
-23.1%prior 13
6
BMW10 (4.4%)
7
NISSAN9 (3.9%)
28.6%prior 7
8
AUDI6 (2.6%)
9
HYUNDAI6 (2.6%)
-14.3%prior 7
10
VOLKSWAGEN6 (2.6%)
20.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (228 persons with recorded sex)

Male124 (54.4%)
12.7%prior 110
Female104 (45.6%)
8.3%prior 96

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed limit zone significantly increased from 16 in the prior period to 29 in the current period. Crashes in the 35 mph zone also rose from 5 to 9 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes in the 25 mph zone saw a slight decrease from 51 to 50, and in the 55 mph zone from 20 to 19.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30 · 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: 2022-04-01 through 2022-04-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-04-01 through 2022-04-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: NEWTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 120
  • Total persons involved: 258
  • Total vehicles involved: 228

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). "NEWTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: April 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2022-04-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/newton/april-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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Newton, MA Crash Report — April 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com