Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

111 CRASHES IN
NEWTON, MA
JANUARY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstJanuary 2021

In January 2022, Newton experienced 111 crashes, a notable increase from the 88 crashes reported in January 2021, representing a 26.14% rise. Total injuries also increased from 25 to 28 year-over-year. The most significant shift was a 166.67% increase in crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions', rising from 3 incidents to 8.

111

26.1%was 88

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

28

12.0%was 25

Persons Injured

15

15.4%was 13

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. 5 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 2022-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for January in Newton indicates a significant increase in crash incidents year-over-year. Total crashes rose by 23, from 88 in January 2021 to 111 in January 2022. This represents a 26.14% increase in reported crashes.

15

Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2022

15.4% vs prior (13)

Hit-and-run crashes increased in count from 13 in January 2021 to 15 in January 2022. However, the hit-and-run rate relative to total crashes slightly decreased from 14.8% to 13.5% during the same period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 10.0%

27

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2222.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · 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 the two periods. In January 2021, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 22 incidents, while in January 2022, Monday became the peak day with 26 crashes. The peak hour also changed, moving from 4 PM with 9 crashes in the prior period to 8 AM with 12 crashes in the current period.

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

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

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatalities in either January 2021 or January 2022. While total injuries increased from 25 to 28, serious injury crashes decreased from 2 (2.3% share) to 1 (0.9% share). Minor injury crashes also saw a slight decrease from 12 (13.6% share) to 11 (9.9% share), whereas crashes with no reported injury increased from 63 (71.6% share) to 87 (78.4% share).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes0.9%
-50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury11minor injury crashes9.9%
-8.3%prior 12
Possible Injury7possible injury crashes6.3%
40.0%prior 5
No Injury87no injury crashes78.4%
38.1%prior 63

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

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

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

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw significant changes in crash counts. 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased by 5 crashes, from 3 to 8, a 166.67% rise. 'Followed too closely' also doubled, increasing from 5 crashes to 10 crashes, and 'Failed to yield right of way' saw a 250% increase, rising from 2 crashes to 7 crashes. Conversely, 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' decreased by 3 crashes, from 4 to 1.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving29 (26.1%)26.1%prior 23
Inattention15 (13.5%)0.0%prior 15
Followed too closely10 (9%)100.0%prior 5
Driving too fast for conditions8 (7.2%)
Failed to yield right of way7 (6.3%)
Glare3 (2.7%)
Other improper action3 (2.7%)
Made an improper turn2 (1.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (1.8%)
Over-correcting/over-steering2 (1.8%)

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 46 to 64 year-over-year, while those during snow conditions decreased from 16 to 11. On road surfaces, crashes on dry roads increased from 55 to 69, and on wet roads from 12 to 18. Crashes in dark-lighted roadway conditions saw an increase from 29 to 41, indicating a shift in crash distribution across lighting conditions.

Weather

Clear64 (57.7%)
39.1%prior 46
Cloudy12 (10.8%)
0.0%prior 12
Snow11 (9.9%)
-31.3%prior 16
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)6 (5.4%)
Rain5 (4.5%)
0.0%prior 5
Clear/Clear3 (2.7%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.8%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (1.8%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (0.9%)
Snow/Blowing sand, snow1 (0.9%)

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

Lighting

Daylight57 (52.3%)
7.5%prior 53
Dark - lighted roadway41 (37.6%)
41.4%prior 29
Dawn5 (4.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (2.8%)
Dusk2 (1.8%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.9%)

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

Road Surface

Dry69 (62.2%)
25.5%prior 55
Wet18 (16.2%)
50.0%prior 12
Ice11 (9.9%)
Snow11 (9.9%)
-42.1%prior 19
Slush2 (1.8%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 151 in January 2021 to 202 in January 2022, a 33.77% rise. The age distribution of persons involved showed a substantial increase in the '0-15' age group, rising from 3 to 56 persons, and in the '21-25' age group, from 17 to 31 persons. Toyota surpassed Honda as the top vehicle make involved in crashes, with Toyota increasing from 20 to 37 incidents, while Honda decreased from 30 to 26.

Top Vehicle Makes (202 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA37 (18.3%)
85.0%prior 20
2
FORD28 (13.9%)
115.4%prior 13
3
HONDA26 (12.9%)
-13.3%prior 30
4
NISSAN13 (6.4%)
30.0%prior 10
5
SUBARU11 (5.4%)
6
JEEP11 (5.4%)
10.0%prior 10
7
CHEVROLET9 (4.5%)
80.0%prior 5
8
AUDI7 (3.5%)
9
BMW6 (3%)
10
LEXUS4 (2%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (255 persons with recorded sex)

Male136 (53.3%)
74.4%prior 78
Female117 (45.9%)
42.7%prior 82
R2 (0.8%)

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

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed zone increased from 41 to 61 incidents year-over-year. Similarly, crashes in the 55 mph speed zone rose from 11 to 18 incidents. There were no fatal crashes recorded in any speed zone during either period.

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

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-01-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: NEWTON, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 111
  • Total persons involved: 284
  • Total vehicles involved: 202

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: January 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/newton/january-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 — January 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com