Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

198 CRASHES IN
NORWELL, MA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In 2022, Norwell recorded 198 total crashes, an 11.2% decrease from the 223 crashes in 2021. Despite the overall reduction in collisions, the most significant year-over-year change was the occurrence of one fatal crash in 2022, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

198

-11.2%was 223

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

59

15.7%was 51

Persons Injured

2

-50.0%was 4

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. 16 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

The overall trend shows a decrease in total collisions, with 198 crashes in 2022 compared to 223 in 2021, representing an 11.2% decline. However, the number of people injured increased by 15.7%, rising from 51 in the prior year to 59 in the current year.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022

-50.0% vs prior (4)

Hit-and-run incidents decreased between the two periods. The number of hit-and-run crashes fell by 50%, from 4 in 2021 to 2 in 2022. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate per 100 crashes declined from 1.8 to 1.0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

59

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5018.0%

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 timing of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day for collisions moving from Wednesday (38 crashes) in 2021 to Friday (41 crashes) in 2022. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes changed from the 3 p.m. hour in 2021, which saw 22 crashes, to the 11 a.m. hour in 2022, with 19 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

Crash outcomes worsened in 2022, with one fatal crash recorded compared to zero in 2021, increasing the fatal crash rate from 0 to 0.51 per 100 crashes. The number of serious injury crashes also rose from 2 to 3. Consequently, the share of crashes resulting in no injury decreased from 72.6% in 2021 to 71.2% in 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.5%
Serious Injury3serious injury crashes1.5%
50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury22minor injury crashes11.1%
-15.4%prior 26
Possible Injury15possible injury crashes7.6%
-25.0%prior 20
No Injury141no injury crashes71.2%
-13.0%prior 162

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 leading contributing factors remained largely the same, though their counts and rankings shifted. Crashes attributed to "Inattention" increased by 38.9% in count, from 18 incidents in 2021 to 25 in 2022, moving it from the third to the second most common factor. Conversely, crashes involving "Followed too closely" decreased in count by 31%, from 29 to 20 incidents. The number of crashes where "No improper driving" was cited also fell from 65 to 52.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving52 (26.3%)-20.0%prior 65
Inattention25 (12.6%)38.9%prior 18
Followed too closely20 (10.1%)-31.0%prior 29
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road13 (6.6%)62.5%prior 8
Other improper action8 (4%)-20.0%prior 10
Distracted6 (3%)
Driving too fast for conditions5 (2.5%)-58.3%prior 12
Fatigued/asleep5 (2.5%)-16.7%prior 6
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner5 (2.5%)-16.7%prior 6
Exceeded authorized speed limit4 (2%)

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

Crash conditions were broadly similar across both periods, with the majority of incidents occurring in clear weather, on dry roads, and during daylight hours. In 2022, 71.2% of crashes happened in clear weather, compared to 75.3% in 2021. Daylight crashes accounted for 69.7% of the total in 2022, a marginal increase from their 68.6% share in the prior year.

Weather

Clear141 (73.8%)
-16.1%prior 168
Rain15 (7.9%)
50.0%prior 10
Cloudy10 (5.2%)
-33.3%prior 15
Snow9 (4.7%)
Cloudy/Rain5 (2.6%)
-28.6%prior 7
Clear/Cloudy3 (1.6%)
Cloudy/Snow2 (1.0%)
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke2 (1.0%)
Snow/Severe crosswinds1 (0.5%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight138 (69.7%)
-9.8%prior 153
Dark - roadway not lighted35 (17.7%)
6.1%prior 33
Dark - lighted roadway15 (7.6%)
-31.8%prior 22
Dusk7 (3.5%)
-22.2%prior 9
Dawn3 (1.5%)
-40.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry151 (76.3%)
-11.2%prior 170
Wet32 (16.2%)
-15.8%prior 38
Snow12 (6.1%)
140.0%prior 5
Ice3 (1.5%)
-50.0%prior 6

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 vehicle makes involved in crashes remained consistent, with Toyota, Ford, and Chevrolet being the most frequent in both years. The number of crashes involving Toyotas increased from 50 to 59, while those involving Fords decreased from 43 to 41. The age distribution of persons involved also showed stability, with the 26-34 age group being the largest demographic in both 2022 (78 persons) and 2021 (74 persons).

Top Vehicle Makes (344 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA59 (17.2%)
18.0%prior 50
2
FORD41 (11.9%)
-4.7%prior 43
3
CHEVROLET32 (9.3%)
-15.8%prior 38
4
HONDA32 (9.3%)
18.5%prior 27
5
NISSAN22 (6.4%)
-18.5%prior 27
6
JEEP20 (5.8%)
-39.4%prior 33
7
SUBARU13 (3.8%)
-7.1%prior 14
8
GMC11 (3.2%)
0.0%prior 11
9
KIA10 (2.9%)
42.9%prior 7
10
VOLKSWAGEN9 (2.6%)
-25.0%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (390 persons with recorded sex)

Male208 (53.3%)
-8.4%prior 227
Female182 (46.7%)
9.0%prior 167

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 speed zones shifted, with collisions in 35 mph zones increasing from 41 in 2021 to 55 in 2022. While crashes in 60 mph zones decreased from 88 to 81, this zone accounted for the single fatal crash in 2022. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in 2021.

Fatal crashes by zone: 60 mph: 1 of 81 (1.235%)

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: NORWELL, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 198
  • Total persons involved: 417
  • Total vehicles involved: 344

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). "NORWELL, 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/norwell/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

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Norwell, MA Crash Report — 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com