Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

723 CRASHES IN
SHREWSBURY, MA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In 2022, Shrewsbury recorded 723 vehicle crashes, compared to 683 in 2021, representing a 5.9% year-over-year increase in total collisions. Alongside the rise in crashes, total injuries increased by 17.1% from 140 to 164, and the number of fatalities doubled from one to two.

723

5.9%was 683

Total Crash Events

2

100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

164

17.1%was 140

Persons Injured

59

25.5%was 47

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 38 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Crash data for Shrewsbury indicates a rising trend in 2022 compared to the prior year. Total crashes increased by 5.9%, from 683 to 723. The number of people injured rose by 17.1% from 140 to 164, and fatalities increased from one in 2021 to two in 2022.

59

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022

25.5% vs prior (47)

Hit-and-run incidents increased in 2022 compared to the prior year, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of total crashes. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose from 47 in 2021 to 59 in 2022, a 25.5% increase in count. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate also climbed, with 8.2% of all crashes in 2022 being classified as hit-and-run, up from 6.9% in 2021.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 10.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 4-75.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

161

Motorists Injured

Prior: 13618.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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 between the two periods. In 2022, the peak day for crashes moved to Thursday with 135 incidents, a change from Friday which was the peak day in 2021 with 128 incidents. While the 4 p.m. hour remained the most frequent time for crashes in both years, the number of crashes during this peak hour decreased from 87 in 2021 to 75 in 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes increased in 2022 compared to the previous year. The number of fatal crashes doubled from one to two, and the fatal crash rate per 100 crashes increased from 0.15 to 0.28. The proportion of crashes involving any level of injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) also grew, rising from 16.1% of all crashes in 2021 to 17.1% in 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes0.3%
100.0%prior 1
Serious Injury10serious injury crashes1.4%
11.1%prior 9
Minor Injury64minor injury crashes8.9%
16.4%prior 55
Possible Injury50possible injury crashes6.9%
8.7%prior 46
No Injury559no injury crashes77.3%
4.3%prior 536

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

While 'Inattention' remained a top driver-related contributing factor in both years, its count decreased from 94 in 2021 to 87 in 2022. Crashes attributed to 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' saw a notable increase in count, rising by 47.6% from 21 to 31 incidents. Conversely, crashes involving 'Followed too closely' decreased in count by 38.6% from 57 to 35.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving181 (25%)40.3%prior 129
Inattention87 (12%)-7.4%prior 94
Failed to yield right of way71 (9.8%)6.0%prior 67
Followed too closely35 (4.8%)-38.6%prior 57
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner31 (4.3%)47.6%prior 21
Distracted23 (3.2%)0.0%prior 23
Driving too fast for conditions22 (3%)15.8%prior 19
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road18 (2.5%)-40.0%prior 30
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings16 (2.2%)-44.8%prior 29
Other improper action12 (1.7%)9.1%prior 11

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The majority of crashes in both years occurred in daylight on dry roads. However, there was a decrease in the proportion of crashes happening under adverse conditions in 2022. The share of crashes in adverse weather (rain, snow, etc.) fell from 17.3% in 2021 to 13.0% in 2022, and the proportion on non-dry road surfaces dropped from 19.8% to 17.8%.

Weather

Clear486 (67.9%)
21.5%prior 400
Clear/Clear60 (8.4%)
-13.0%prior 69
Cloudy58 (8.1%)
-3.3%prior 60
Rain30 (4.2%)
-28.6%prior 42
Cloudy/Rain25 (3.5%)
-16.7%prior 30
Snow15 (2.1%)
-28.6%prior 21
Clear/Cloudy11 (1.5%)
37.5%prior 8
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)7 (1.0%)
16.7%prior 6
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)6 (0.8%)
Rain/Fog, smog, smoke4 (0.6%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight509 (70.9%)
8.5%prior 469
Dark - lighted roadway143 (19.9%)
7.5%prior 133
Dark - roadway not lighted32 (4.5%)
-8.6%prior 35
Dusk21 (2.9%)
40.0%prior 15
Dawn7 (1.0%)
-41.7%prior 12
Dark - unknown roadway lighting4 (0.6%)
-50.0%prior 8
Other2 (0.3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry582 (81.7%)
9.6%prior 531
Wet95 (13.3%)
5.6%prior 90
Snow17 (2.4%)
-37.0%prior 27
Ice13 (1.8%)
0.0%prior 13
Slush4 (0.6%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top three vehicle makes involved in crashes—Toyota, Honda, and Ford—remained consistent in ranking from 2021 to 2022, with each showing a small increase in total counts. Analysis of the age distribution of persons involved in crashes shows a notable increase in the 35-44 age group, which grew from 234 individuals in 2021 to 268 in 2022. This group's share of total persons involved also increased from 14.4% to 15.7%.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,345 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA239 (17.8%)
5.3%prior 227
2
HONDA151 (11.2%)
2.7%prior 147
3
FORD120 (8.9%)
3.4%prior 116
4
CHEVROLET96 (7.1%)
5.5%prior 91
5
SUBARU92 (6.8%)
67.3%prior 55
6
NISSAN92 (6.8%)
33.3%prior 69
7
JEEP53 (3.9%)
8.2%prior 49
8
HYUNDAI49 (3.6%)
36.1%prior 36
9
MERCEDES-BENZ32 (2.4%)
23.1%prior 26
10
LEXUS31 (2.3%)
93.8%prior 16

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (1,638 persons with recorded sex)

Male900 (54.9%)
1.0%prior 891
Female737 (45.0%)
15.9%prior 636
X / Unspecified1 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones shifted toward higher speeds in 2022. The count of crashes in zones with posted limits over 40 mph rose from 132 in 2021 to 172 in 2022. The single fatality in 2021 occurred in a 35 mph zone, while the two fatalities in 2022 occurred in 30 mph and 55 mph zones.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 86 (1.163%) · 55 mph: 1 of 8 (12.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: SHREWSBURY, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 723
  • Total persons involved: 1,712
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,345

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). "SHREWSBURY, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/shrewsbury/2022-annual-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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Shrewsbury, MA Crash Report — 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com