Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

57 CRASHES IN
SALEM, MA
JULY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstJuly 2021

In July 2022, Salem experienced 57 crashes, marking a 35.7% increase compared to the 42 crashes recorded in July 2021. The most significant shift observed year-over-year is the increase in bicycle crashes, rising from 0 in July 2021 to 3 in July 2022.

57

35.7%was 42

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

19

35.7%was 14

Persons Injured

4

33.3%was 3

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 · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the trend for crashes in Salem is upward, with a 35.7% increase in total crashes from 42 in July 2021 to 57 in July 2022. Concurrently, total injuries also rose by 35.7%, from 14 to 19, indicating a proportional increase in crash-related harm.

4

Hit-and-Run Crashes — July 2022

33.3% vs prior (3)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased slightly from 3 in July 2021 to 4 in July 2022. Despite this increase in count, the hit-and-run rate remained stable at approximately 7% of all crashes for both periods.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

19

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1435.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · 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 year-over-year; the peak day for crashes moved from Friday in July 2021 (10 crashes) to Thursday in July 2022 (11 crashes). The peak crash hour also changed significantly, moving from 6 PM with 6 crashes in July 2021 to 11 AM with 9 crashes in July 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crash rates remained at 0% for both July 2021 and July 2022. The proportion of minor injury crashes decreased from 11.9% (5 crashes) in July 2021 to 5.3% (3 crashes) in July 2022, while possible injury crashes remained relatively stable, accounting for 16.7% (7 crashes) in July 2021 and 15.8% (9 crashes) in July 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes5.3%
-40.0%prior 5
Possible Injury9possible injury crashes15.8%
28.6%prior 7
No Injury42no injury crashes73.7%
40.0%prior 30

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Several contributing factors saw notable changes in crash counts year-over-year. 'Failed to yield right of way' crashes increased from 5 in July 2021 to 11 in July 2022, and 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' crashes rose from 3 to 7. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Inattention' decreased from 5 to 1 during the same period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way11 (19.3%)120.0%prior 5
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road7 (12.3%)
No improper driving6 (10.5%)0.0%prior 6
Followed too closely6 (10.5%)
Distracted4 (7%)
Other improper action2 (3.5%)
Inattention1 (1.8%)-80.0%prior 5
Physical impairment1 (1.8%)
Wrong side or wrong way1 (1.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 27 in July 2021 to 44 in July 2022, while crashes in rainy conditions decreased from 5 to 1. Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 34 to 55, and crashes during daylight hours increased from 31 to 44 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear/Clear44 (77.2%)
63.0%prior 27
Clear10 (17.5%)
Cloudy/Clear1 (1.8%)
Rain1 (1.8%)
Rain/Rain1 (1.8%)
-80.0%prior 5

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight44 (77.2%)
41.9%prior 31
Dark - lighted roadway10 (17.5%)
25.0%prior 8
Dark - roadway not lighted2 (3.5%)
Dusk1 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry55 (96.5%)
61.8%prior 34
Wet2 (3.5%)
-71.4%prior 7

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 76 in July 2021 to 111 in July 2022. Honda and Toyota remained the top two vehicle makes involved, with Honda increasing from 14 to 19 and Toyota from 11 to 17. Notably, the number of persons aged 26-34, 35-44, 55-64, and 65+ involved in crashes significantly increased, while involvement for ages 0-15 and 21-25 decreased.

Top Vehicle Makes (111 vehicles)

1
HONDA19 (17.1%)
35.7%prior 14
2
TOYOTA17 (15.3%)
54.5%prior 11
3
NISSAN11 (9.9%)
4
FORD10 (9%)
11.1%prior 9
5
CHEVROLET5 (4.5%)
6
VOLKSWAGEN5 (4.5%)
7
SUBARU4 (3.6%)
8
JEEP (FOR MODEL3 (2.7%)
9
JEEP3 (2.7%)
-62.5%prior 8
10
LINC2 (1.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (121 persons with recorded sex)

Male77 (63.6%)
40.0%prior 55
Female44 (36.4%)
18.9%prior 37

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones saw the largest increase, rising from 4 in July 2021 to 10 in July 2022. Crashes in 1 mph zones increased from 3 to 5, and in 20 mph zones from 1 to 3. Conversely, crashes in 35 mph zones decreased from 3 to 1 year-over-year.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31 · 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: 2022-07-01 through 2022-07-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-07-01 through 2022-07-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SALEM, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 57
  • Total persons involved: 135
  • Total vehicles involved: 111

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). "SALEM, MA Crash Intelligence Report: July 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2022-07-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/salem/july-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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Salem, MA Crash Report — July 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com