Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

427 CRASHES IN
SOMERSET, MA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In 2022, Somerset recorded 427 total traffic crashes, a 5.1% decrease from the 450 crashes reported in 2021. This period also saw a reduction in crash severity, with total injuries falling from 181 to 154 and the number of fatalities dropping from one in the prior year to zero.

427

-5.1%was 450

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 1

Persons Killed

154

-14.9%was 181

Persons Injured

10

11.1%was 9

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. 13 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

Overall traffic safety trends in Somerset showed improvement year-over-year. Total crashes declined by 5.1%, from 450 in 2021 to 427 in 2022. The number of people injured in these incidents also decreased by 14.9%, and the single fatality recorded in the prior year was not repeated in the current period.

10

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022

11.1% vs prior (9)

The incidence of hit-and-run crashes saw a slight increase year-over-year. The total count of hit-and-run incidents rose from 9 in 2021 to 10 in 2022. This corresponds to an increase in the hit-and-run rate, which grew from 2.0% of all crashes in the prior period to 2.3% in the current period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1100.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 20.0%

150

Motorists Injured

Prior: 178-15.7%

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 slightly between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday (78 crashes) in 2021 to Saturday (73 crashes) in 2022. Similarly, the peak hour for incidents shifted from 2 p.m. in the prior year to 5 p.m. in the current year, though the afternoon hours consistently saw the highest crash volumes in both periods.

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

Crash severity decreased in 2022 compared to the prior year. The single fatal crash from 2021 was not repeated, and the number of serious injury crashes fell from 6 to 4. While the count of minor injury crashes remained stable at 76, the proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 69.1% in 2021 to 72.1% in 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury4serious injury crashes0.9%
-33.3%prior 6
Minor Injury76minor injury crashes17.8%
-1.3%prior 77
Possible Injury26possible injury crashes6.1%
-33.3%prior 39
No Injury308no injury crashes72.1%
-1.0%prior 311

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

The ranking of top contributing factors shifted between the two years. In 2021, 'Inattention' was the leading factor with 88 crashes, but its count fell by 15.9% to 74 crashes in 2022, making it the second-ranked factor. 'No improper driving' became the most cited factor in 2022 with 83 instances, up from 60 in the prior year. Notably, crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased significantly in count, from 6 in 2021 to 17 in 2022.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving83 (19.4%)38.3%prior 60
Inattention74 (17.3%)-15.9%prior 88
Failed to yield right of way66 (15.5%)3.1%prior 64
Followed too closely61 (14.3%)-12.9%prior 70
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road23 (5.4%)-36.1%prior 36
Driving too fast for conditions17 (4%)183.3%prior 6
Made an improper turn14 (3.3%)27.3%prior 11
Other improper action14 (3.3%)75.0%prior 8
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner11 (2.6%)-21.4%prior 14
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway10 (2.3%)66.7%prior 6

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 proportion of crashes occurring in adverse conditions was higher in 2022 than in 2021. Crashes on wet road surfaces increased from a 13.8% share to a 17.1% share of the total, and incidents in rainy conditions rose from a 5.6% share to an 8.9% share. Despite a lower overall crash total, 2022 saw more crashes during snowy conditions (16 vs. 6) and on snowy roads (18 vs. 12) compared to the prior year.

Weather

Clear318 (75.4%)
-5.4%prior 336
Rain38 (9.0%)
52.0%prior 25
Cloudy26 (6.2%)
-44.7%prior 47
Snow16 (3.8%)
166.7%prior 6
Cloudy/Rain14 (3.3%)
0.0%prior 14
Rain/Cloudy2 (0.5%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)2 (0.5%)
Rain/Severe crosswinds1 (0.2%)
Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)1 (0.2%)
Clear/Snow1 (0.2%)

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

Lighting

Daylight296 (69.6%)
-3.0%prior 305
Dark - lighted roadway94 (22.1%)
10.6%prior 85
Dark - roadway not lighted17 (4.0%)
-37.0%prior 27
Dusk9 (2.1%)
-57.1%prior 21
Dawn6 (1.4%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.5%)
Other1 (0.2%)

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

Road Surface

Dry327 (77.1%)
-11.4%prior 369
Wet73 (17.2%)
17.7%prior 62
Snow18 (4.2%)
50.0%prior 12
Slush3 (0.7%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.2%)
Water (standing, moving)1 (0.2%)
Ice1 (0.2%)

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 shifted slightly, with Ford (65 vehicles) replacing Nissan (52 vehicles) as the third most common make in 2022, following Toyota and Honda which held the top two spots in both years. Regarding the demographics of persons involved, there was an increase in the share of individuals in the 16-20 age group (from 11.0% to 13.1%) and the 65+ age group (from 12.2% to 14.7%) from 2021 to 2022.

Top Vehicle Makes (781 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA136 (17.4%)
-5.6%prior 144
2
HONDA85 (10.9%)
-4.5%prior 89
3
FORD65 (8.3%)
-1.5%prior 66
4
CHEVROLET62 (7.9%)
-3.1%prior 64
5
NISSAN52 (6.7%)
-32.5%prior 77
6
HYUNDAI43 (5.5%)
4.9%prior 41
7
KIA36 (4.6%)
5.9%prior 34
8
JEEP30 (3.8%)
-25.0%prior 40
9
SUBARU30 (3.8%)
11.1%prior 27
10
VOLKSWAGEN24 (3.1%)
-4.0%prior 25

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

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

Sex Distribution (849 persons with recorded sex)

Male461 (54.3%)
-9.6%prior 510
Female388 (45.7%)
-9.1%prior 427

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

Crashes in 2022 were more concentrated in lower speed zones compared to 2021. The number of crashes in the 30 mph zone, the most frequent location for incidents, increased from 171 to 189. Conversely, crashes in higher speed zones declined, with incidents in 40 mph zones falling from 96 to 66 and those in 65 mph zones decreasing from 37 to 21. The single fatal crash in 2021 occurred in a 65 mph zone; no fatalities were recorded in 2022.

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: SOMERSET, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 427
  • Total persons involved: 945
  • Total vehicles involved: 781

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). "SOMERSET, 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/somerset/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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Somerset, MA Crash Report — 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com