Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

53 CRASHES IN
READING, MA
FEBRUARY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2021

Total crashes in February 2022 increased to 53, up from 39 in February 2021, representing a 35.9% rise year-over-year. A significant shift was observed in total injuries, which quadrupled from 3 in the prior period to 12 in the current period. This indicates a notable increase in crash incidents and their severity.

53

35.9%was 39

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

12

300.0%was 3

Persons Injured

2

100.0%was 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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crashes in READING, MA showed an upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 35.9%, rising from 39 in February 2021 to 53 in February 2022. This indicates a substantial increase in crash frequency during the current period.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2022

100.0% vs prior (1)

Hit-and-run crashes increased from 1 in February 2021 to 2 in February 2022. Correspondingly, the hit-and-run rate rose from 2.6% of total crashes in the prior period to 3.8% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

12

Motorists Injured

Prior: 3300.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Tuesday, which had 9 crashes in February 2021, to Friday, which recorded 10 crashes in February 2022. The peak crash hour also changed, moving from 4 PM with 10 crashes in the prior year to 9 AM with 7 crashes in the current year. This suggests a change in the busiest times for crash occurrences.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Both periods reported 0 fatalities, maintaining a consistent fatal crash rate. However, total injuries saw a significant increase, rising from 3 in February 2021 to 12 in February 2022. Minor injuries (severity code 'B') increased from 1 to 5, and possible injuries (severity code 'C') rose from 1 to 4, indicating a greater number of injury-involved crashes.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury5minor injury crashes9.4%
400.0%prior 1
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes7.5%
300.0%prior 1
No Injury44no injury crashes83%
18.9%prior 37

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Crashes attributed to 'Inattention' increased by 4, from 5 in February 2021 to 9 in February 2022, with its share rising from 12.8% to 17%. 'Followed too closely' crashes also increased by 3, from 5 to 8, and its share grew from 12.8% to 15.1%. Conversely, 'No improper driving' crashes decreased by 4, from 10 to 6, and its share dropped from 25.6% to 11.3%.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Inattention9 (17%)80.0%prior 5
Followed too closely8 (15.1%)60.0%prior 5
No improper driving6 (11.3%)-40.0%prior 10
Other improper action4 (7.5%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (7.5%)-20.0%prior 5
Driving too fast for conditions3 (5.7%)
Physical impairment2 (3.8%)
Distracted1 (1.9%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (1.9%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear/Clear' weather conditions increased from 16 in February 2021 to 21 in February 2022, remaining the most frequent weather condition. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces also rose from 20 to 26, while those on 'Snow' surfaces decreased from 13 to 7. 'Daylight' continued to be the predominant lighting condition for crashes, increasing from 25 to 36 incidents.

Weather

Clear/Clear21 (39.6%)
31.3%prior 16
Clear10 (18.9%)
Snow/Snow3 (5.7%)
-57.1%prior 7
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (5.7%)
Rain/Cloudy3 (5.7%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (3.8%)
Snow2 (3.8%)
Cloudy2 (3.8%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.9%)
Rain/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight36 (69.2%)
44.0%prior 25
Dark - lighted roadway11 (21.2%)
-8.3%prior 12
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (3.8%)
Dusk2 (3.8%)
Dawn1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry26 (49.1%)
30.0%prior 20
Wet12 (22.6%)
140.0%prior 5
Snow7 (13.2%)
-46.2%prior 13
Ice5 (9.4%)
Slush3 (5.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 74 in February 2021 to 103 in February 2022. The 35-44 age group showed the largest increase in persons involved, rising from 13 to 24. While Toyota was the top make in the prior period with 16 vehicles, Honda became the top make in the current period with 15 vehicles, up from 8.

Top Vehicle Makes (103 vehicles)

1
HONDA15 (14.6%)
87.5%prior 8
2
TOYOTA13 (12.6%)
-18.8%prior 16
3
FORD10 (9.7%)
42.9%prior 7
4
JEEP9 (8.7%)
5
CHEVROLET6 (5.8%)
20.0%prior 5
6
SUBARU6 (5.8%)
7
LEXUS5 (4.9%)
8
NISSAN5 (4.9%)
0.0%prior 5
9
GMC4 (3.9%)
10
HYUNDAI4 (3.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (114 persons with recorded sex)

Male65 (57.0%)
41.3%prior 46
Female49 (43.0%)
19.5%prior 41

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The 30 mph speed limit zone continued to have the highest number of crashes, increasing from 10 in February 2021 to 14 in February 2022. Crashes in the 55 mph zone also saw an increase from 6 to 10. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed limit zone during either period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 · 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: 2022-02-01 through 2022-02-28
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-02-01 through 2022-02-28 (28 days)
  • Geographic scope: READING, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 53
  • Total persons involved: 121
  • Total vehicles involved: 103

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). "READING, MA Crash Intelligence Report: February 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/reading/february-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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Reading, MA Crash Report — February 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com