Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

60 CRASHES IN
SAUGUS, MA
SEPTEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2021

In September 2022, Saugus recorded 60 total crashes, an 11.1% increase from the 54 crashes reported in September 2021. A significant positive shift was observed in crash fatalities, which dropped from 2 in the prior year to 0 in the current period. However, total injuries rose substantially, from 16 to 27.

60

11.1%was 54

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

27

68.8%was 16

Persons Injured

6

200.0%was 2

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 · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash activity in Saugus increased year-over-year, with total crashes rising by 11.1% from 54 in September 2021 to 60 in September 2022. While fatalities decreased from 2 to 0, total injuries saw a substantial increase of 68.8%, from 16 to 27, indicating a shift towards more injury-involved incidents.

6

Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2022

200.0% vs prior (2)

Hit-and-run incidents significantly increased year-over-year, with the number of such crashes rising from 2 in September 2021 to 6 in September 2022. This represents a 200% increase in hit-and-run crash count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate more than doubled, climbing from 3.7% of total crashes in the prior period to 10% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

24

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1560.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

Temporal patterns for crashes shifted between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Saturday with 12 incidents in September 2021 to Friday with 14 incidents in September 2022. Similarly, the peak crash hour shifted from 4 PM with 10 crashes in the prior year to 7 PM with 6 crashes in the current year, indicating a change in when crashes are most frequent.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity distribution of crashes changed notably, with fatal crashes decreasing from 2 (a 3.7% fatal crash rate) in September 2021 to 0 (a 0% fatal crash rate) in September 2022. However, the proportion of crashes resulting in any injury increased from 25.9% to 31.7% year-over-year. Minor injury crashes rose from 11 to 13, and possible injury crashes increased from 1 to 5.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes1.7%
Minor Injury13minor injury crashes21.7%
18.2%prior 11
Possible Injury5possible injury crashes8.3%
400.0%prior 1
No Injury38no injury crashes63.3%
-2.6%prior 39

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, 'No improper driving' remained the most frequent, increasing by 8 incidents from 14 in September 2021 to 22 in September 2022, representing a 57.1% rise in count. 'Inattention' crashes doubled from 4 to 8, moving from the third to the second most common factor. The counts for 'Followed too closely' and 'Distracted' remained stable at 6 and 3 crashes, respectively.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving22 (36.7%)57.1%prior 14
Inattention8 (13.3%)
Followed too closely6 (10%)0.0%prior 6
Distracted3 (5%)
Other improper action2 (3.3%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (3.3%)
Failed to yield right of way1 (1.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (1.7%)
Fatigued/asleep1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions significantly increased from 10 in September 2021 to 18 in September 2022. This contributed to an increase in the proportion of low-light crashes (Dark or Dusk) from 20.4% to 35% year-over-year. Crashes in 'Clear' weather conditions rose from 40 to 46, while 'Rain' condition crashes increased from 5 to 7. The proportion of crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces remained consistent at 16.7%.

Weather

Clear46 (76.7%)
15.0%prior 40
Rain7 (11.7%)
40.0%prior 5
Cloudy6 (10.0%)
20.0%prior 5
Clear/Other1 (1.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight39 (65.0%)
-7.1%prior 42
Dark - lighted roadway18 (30.0%)
80.0%prior 10
Dusk3 (5.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry50 (83.3%)
11.1%prior 45
Wet10 (16.7%)
11.1%prior 9

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased from 100 in September 2021 to 127 in September 2022. Honda vehicles saw a notable increase in involvement, rising from 11 to 20 and becoming the most frequently involved make. Conversely, Toyota involvement decreased from 19 to 13, and Ford involvement dropped from 18 to 10, altering the top vehicle make rankings.

Top Vehicle Makes (127 vehicles)

1
HONDA20 (15.7%)
81.8%prior 11
2
TOYOTA13 (10.2%)
-31.6%prior 19
3
FORD10 (7.9%)
-44.4%prior 18
4
CHEVROLET9 (7.1%)
50.0%prior 6
5
MERCEDES-BENZ9 (7.1%)
6
NISSAN8 (6.3%)
60.0%prior 5
7
JEEP7 (5.5%)
40.0%prior 5
8
DODGE6 (4.7%)
9
SUBARU5 (3.9%)
10
HYUNDAI4 (3.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (127 persons with recorded sex)

Male72 (56.7%)
10.8%prior 65
Female55 (43.3%)
14.6%prior 48

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones remained the most frequent, increasing slightly from 20 to 21 incidents. A notable shift occurred in the 35 mph zone, where crashes decreased from 6 to 3, and the 2 fatal crashes reported in this zone in September 2021 were eliminated. Crashes in 25 mph zones saw a substantial increase from 2 to 7, while 50 mph zones also saw an increase from 12 to 15 crashes.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · 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: 2022-09-01 through 2022-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-09-01 through 2022-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: SAUGUS, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 60
  • Total persons involved: 150
  • Total vehicles involved: 127

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: September 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/saugus/september-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 — September 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com