Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

19 CRASHES IN
PALMER, MA
DECEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstDecember 2021

In December 2022, PALMER, MA experienced 19 total crashes, a decrease of 17.4% from the 23 crashes recorded in December 2021. Both periods reported zero fatalities. A notable shift was the increase in crashes attributed to 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner,' which doubled from 2 in the prior year to 4 in the current year.

19

-17.4%was 23

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

Persons Injured

1

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 · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a decrease in total crashes, falling from 23 in December 2021 to 19 in December 2022, representing a 17.4% reduction. Total injuries remained stable at 3 in both periods, and there were no fatalities reported in either year.

1

Hit-and-Run Crashes — December 2022

5.3% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 30.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes remained Saturday in both periods, with 5 crashes in December 2022 compared to 4 in December 2021. However, the peak crash hour shifted from 4 p.m. with 3 crashes in the prior year to 7 p.m. with 2 crashes in the current year. Crashes on Monday and Friday increased from 3 and 4 respectively in the prior year to 5 each in the current year, while crashes on Thursday decreased from 4 to 0.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes and total fatalities remained at zero in both December 2021 and December 2022. The total number of injured persons was constant at 3 for both periods. The proportion of minor injury crashes increased from 8.7% to 10.5%, and possible injury crashes increased from 4.3% to 5.3% year-over-year.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes10.5%
0.0%prior 2
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes5.3%
0.0%prior 1
No Injury13no injury crashes68.4%
-31.6%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The contributing factor 'Inattention' saw a significant decrease, falling from 5 crashes in December 2021 to 1 crash in December 2022. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' doubled from 2 crashes to 4 crashes. 'No improper driving' also saw a slight decrease, from 5 crashes to 4 crashes year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving4 (21.1%)-20.0%prior 5
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner4 (21.1%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (10.5%)
Inattention1 (5.3%)-80.0%prior 5
Other improper action1 (5.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 12 in December 2021 to 7 in December 2022, while crashes in snow conditions increased from 1 to 5. Daylight crashes decreased from 10 to 5, and crashes in dark conditions on a lighted roadway increased from 5 to 7. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 15 to 10, whereas crashes on snow-covered roads increased from 1 to 5.

Weather

Clear7 (36.8%)
-41.7%prior 12
Snow5 (26.3%)
Rain3 (15.8%)
Cloudy2 (10.5%)
Clear/Cloudy1 (5.3%)
Cloudy/Rain1 (5.3%)

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

Lighting

Dark - lighted roadway7 (36.8%)
40.0%prior 5
Dark - roadway not lighted7 (36.8%)
16.7%prior 6
Daylight5 (26.3%)
-50.0%prior 10

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

Road Surface

Dry10 (52.6%)
-33.3%prior 15
Snow5 (26.3%)
Wet4 (21.1%)
-42.9%prior 7

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (27 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA4 (14.8%)
-33.3%prior 6
2
MERCEDES-BENZ2 (7.4%)
3
HONDA2 (7.4%)
4
HYUNDAI2 (7.4%)
5
FORD2 (7.4%)
6
CHEVROLET2 (7.4%)
7
JEEP2 (7.4%)
8
VOLVO2 (7.4%)
9
JAGUAR1 (3.7%)
10
DODGE1 (3.7%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (28 persons with recorded sex)

Male15 (53.6%)
-40.0%prior 25
Female13 (46.4%)
-7.1%prior 14

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 65 mph speed limit zone significantly increased from 3 in December 2021 to 11 in December 2022. Conversely, crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased from 6 to 1 year-over-year. Crashes in the 40 mph zone, which accounted for 5 incidents in the prior period, were not recorded in the current period. No fatalities were reported across any speed limit zone in either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-12-01 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: 2022-12-01 through 2022-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-12-01 through 2022-12-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: PALMER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 19
  • Total persons involved: 33
  • Total vehicles involved: 27

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). "PALMER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: December 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-12-01 to 2022-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/palmer/december-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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Palmer, MA Crash Report — December 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com