Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

52 CRASHES IN
SAUGUS, MA
MAY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2021

Total crashes in Saugus, MA for May 2022 were 52, a decrease of 26.8% compared to the 71 crashes reported in May 2021. This period saw a notable reduction in total crashes and a decrease in fatalities from 1 to 0.

52

▼ -26.8%was 71

Total Crash Events

0

▼ -100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

23

▲ 27.8%was 18

Persons Injured

3

▼ -62.5%was 8

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 · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for May shows a significant decrease in crash incidents year-over-year, with total crashes falling by 26.8% from 71 to 52. Fatalities also decreased from 1 in May 2021 to 0 in May 2022, while total injuries increased by 27.8% from 18 to 23.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2022

▼ -62.5% vs prior (8)

Hit-and-run crashes decreased from 8 in May 2021 to 3 in May 2022. This represents a reduction in the hit-and-run crash rate from 11.3% to 5.8% year-over-year, indicating a downward trend.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 1↑100.0%

21

Motorists Injured

Prior: 17↑23.5%

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 Saturday with 17 crashes in May 2021 to Tuesday with 12 crashes in May 2022. The peak hour also changed, moving from 8 PM with 9 crashes in the prior year to 4 PM with 5 crashes in the current year. Overall, crashes on Saturdays saw a significant decrease from 17 to 6.

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

Total fatalities decreased from 1 in May 2021 to 0 in May 2022. The number of serious injuries remained consistent at 1 in both periods, while minor injuries decreased from 9 to 7. Conversely, possible injuries increased from 6 to 11, contributing to an overall increase in total injuries from 18 to 23.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.9%
→0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes13.5%
↓-22.2%prior 9
Possible Injury11possible injury crashes21.2%
↑83.3%prior 6
No Injury33no injury crashes63.5%
↓-31.3%prior 48

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

Crashes attributed to "No improper driving" decreased from 23 to 16 year-over-year. Conversely, crashes involving "Failed to yield right of way" and "Other improper action" each increased from 1 to 4. "Inattention" related crashes decreased from 6 to 5, and "Followed too closely" decreased from 5 to 3.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving16 (30.8%)↓-30.4%prior 23
Inattention5 (9.6%)↓-16.7%prior 6
Other improper action4 (7.7%)
Failed to yield right of way4 (7.7%)
Followed too closely3 (5.8%)↓-40.0%prior 5
Made an improper turn2 (3.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (3.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (3.8%)
Operating defective equipment1 (1.9%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner1 (1.9%)

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 decreased from 57 in May 2021 to 42 in May 2022, and rain-related crashes decreased from 11 to 4. Similarly, daylight crashes decreased from 45 to 38, and crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 58 to 46. Crashes in dark-lighted roadway conditions also saw a notable decrease from 14 to 4.

Weather

Clear42 (80.8%)
↓-26.3%prior 57
Cloudy5 (9.6%)
Rain4 (7.7%)
↓-63.6%prior 11
Rain/Cloudy1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight38 (73.1%)
↓-15.6%prior 45
Dark - roadway not lighted5 (9.6%)
Dark - lighted roadway4 (7.7%)
↓-71.4%prior 14
Dusk3 (5.8%)
Dawn2 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry46 (88.5%)
↓-20.7%prior 58
Wet6 (11.5%)
↓-50.0%prior 12

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The leading vehicle make involved in crashes shifted from Toyota (21) in May 2021 to Ford (17) in May 2022. Regarding persons involved, the 26-34 age group saw a decrease from 33 to 25, and the 35-44 age group decreased from 28 to 18. In contrast, the 0-15 age group increased from 6 to 10, and the 21-25 age group increased from 10 to 17.

Top Vehicle Makes (99 vehicles)

1
FORD17 (17.2%)
↑142.9%prior 7
2
HONDA15 (15.2%)
↓-16.7%prior 18
3
TOYOTA11 (11.1%)
↓-47.6%prior 21
4
JEEP8 (8.1%)
↓-20.0%prior 10
5
NISSAN6 (6.1%)
↓-33.3%prior 9
6
CHEVROLET6 (6.1%)
↓-70.0%prior 20
7
HYUNDAI5 (5.1%)
↓-28.6%prior 7
8
DODGE4 (4%)
9
LEXUS3 (3%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
10
AUDI2 (2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (117 persons with recorded sex)

Male66 (56.4%)
↓-19.5%prior 82
Female51 (43.6%)
↓-7.3%prior 55

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 the 30 mph speed zone decreased from 28 to 16, and in the 50 mph zone from 23 to 21. Conversely, crashes in the 25 mph zone increased from 2 to 7. No fatal crashes were reported within any specified speed limit zone for either the current or prior period.

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: SAUGUS, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 52
  • Total persons involved: 124
  • Total vehicles involved: 99

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). "SAUGUS, 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/saugus/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

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Saugus, MA Crash Report — May 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com