ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · SALEM, MA · MAY 2022
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/salem/may-2022-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
61 CRASHES IN
SALEM, MA
MAY 2022
In May 2022, Salem recorded 61 crashes, which is consistent with the 61 crashes reported in May 2021. The most notable year-over-year shift was the increase in total fatalities, rising from 0 in May 2021 to 2 in May 2022.
61
Total Crash Events
2
Persons Killed
21
▲ 40.0%was 15
Persons Injured
7
▲ 40.0%was 5
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (2) 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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Total crashes remained stable at 61 in both May 2021 and May 2022. However, total fatalities increased from 0 in May 2021 to 2 in May 2022, while total injuries increased by 40% from 15 to 21.
7
Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2022
▲ 40.0% vs prior (5)
The number of hit-and-run crashes increased from 5 in May 2021 to 7 in May 2022. This represents an increase in the hit-and-run rate from 8.2% in May 2021 to 11.5% in May 2022, indicating an upward trend.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
2
Motorists Killed
21
Motorists Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for crashes shifted from Tuesday in May 2021, with 14 crashes, to Monday in May 2022, also with 14 crashes. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 10 AM with 7 crashes in May 2021 to 3 PM with 7 crashes in May 2022.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
Fatal crashes increased from 0 in May 2021 to 1 in May 2022, resulting in a fatal crash rate of 1.6% in the current period. Total injuries saw a 40% increase, rising from 15 in May 2021 to 21 in May 2022. The proportion of crashes resulting in minor injuries decreased from 8.2% to 6.6%, while possible injury crashes increased from 11.5% to 13.1%.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 1 fatal crash events resulted in 2 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Failed to yield right of way remained the most frequent contributing factor with 9 crashes in both May 2021 and May 2022. Crashes attributed to 'No improper driving' increased from 4 in May 2021 to 8 in May 2022, while 'Inattention' crashes decreased from 5 to 1 during the same period. 'Followed too closely' crashes remained constant at 5 in both periods.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 52 in May 2021 to 56 in May 2022, while crashes in rain conditions decreased from 8 to 1. Crashes during daylight hours remained stable, with 48 in May 2022 compared to 50 in May 2021. The number of crashes on dry road surfaces increased from 53 to 59, while crashes on wet surfaces decreased from 7 to 2.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 115 in May 2021 to 120 in May 2022. Toyota remained the most frequently involved vehicle make, with 24 vehicles in May 2022 compared to 25 in May 2021. The number of persons aged 65 and older involved in crashes doubled from 10 in May 2021 to 20 in May 2022, and persons aged 21-25 increased from 16 to 24.
Top Vehicle Makes (120 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Vehicle unit records
15 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (141 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Crashes in 25 mph zones decreased from 19 in May 2021 to 17 in May 2022, while crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 5 to 10. A fatal crash occurred in a 45 mph zone in May 2022, where no fatal crashes were recorded in this zone in May 2021.
Fatal crashes by zone: 45 mph: 1 of 1 (100%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · 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: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: SALEM, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 61
- Total persons involved: 156
- Total vehicles involved: 120
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: May 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/salem/may-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
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2022-05-01 – 2022-05-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved