Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

26 CRASHES IN
SOMERSET, MA
AUGUST 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2021

Total crashes in Somerset decreased significantly from 41 in August 2021 to 26 in August 2022, representing a 36.6% reduction. This notable decrease in overall crash volume is the most significant year-over-year shift. Total injuries also saw a substantial decline during this period.

26

▼ -36.6%was 41

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

7

▼ -50.0%was 14

Persons Injured

0

▼ -100.0%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.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend for August in Somerset shows a clear decrease in crash activity year-over-year. Total crashes fell by 36.6%, from 41 in August 2021 to 26 in August 2022. Concurrently, total injuries decreased by 50%, from 14 to 7, while fatalities remained at zero in both periods.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

7

Motorists Injured

Prior: 14↓-50.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes saw shifts in peak activity. The peak day for crashes moved from Thursday and Friday (9 crashes each) in August 2021 to Wednesday and Thursday (6 crashes each) in August 2022. The peak hour also shifted from 5 PM (5 crashes) in the prior period to 6 PM (3 crashes) in the current period, indicating a lower concentration of crashes during peak times.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities remained at 0 in both August 2021 and August 2022. Total injuries decreased by 50%, from 14 in the prior period to 7 in the current period. While minor injuries remained constant at 3 in both periods, possible injuries saw a decrease from 7 in August 2021 to 3 in August 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury3minor injury crashes11.5%
→0.0%prior 3
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes11.5%
↓-57.1%prior 7
No Injury20no injury crashes76.9%
↓-35.5%prior 31

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Among contributing factors, "Failed to yield right of way" increased by 33.3% in count, from 6 crashes in August 2021 to 8 crashes in August 2022, becoming the top factor. Conversely, "Followed too closely" decreased by 44.4% in count, from 9 to 5 crashes, and "Inattention" decreased by 57.1% in count, from 7 to 3 crashes. The top contributing factor shifted from "Followed too closely" in the prior period to "Failed to yield right of way" in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way8 (30.8%)↑33.3%prior 6
Followed too closely5 (19.2%)↓-44.4%prior 9
Inattention3 (11.5%)↓-57.1%prior 7
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (7.7%)
Made an improper turn2 (7.7%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (3.8%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (3.8%)
No improper driving1 (3.8%)
Other improper action1 (3.8%)
Over-correcting/over-steering1 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring under clear weather conditions decreased from 36 in August 2021 (combining "Clear" and "Clear/Other") to 21 in August 2022. Crashes during daylight hours also decreased from 36 to 22 year-over-year. The number of crashes on wet road surfaces remained consistent at 3 in both periods, while crashes on dry surfaces decreased from 38 to 23.

Weather

Clear21 (80.8%)
↓-36.4%prior 33
Rain3 (11.5%)
Cloudy2 (7.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight22 (84.6%)
↓-38.9%prior 36
Dark - lighted roadway3 (11.5%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry23 (88.5%)
↓-39.5%prior 38
Wet3 (11.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (49 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (26.5%)
↓-7.1%prior 14
2
HONDA8 (16.3%)
↓-20.0%prior 10
3
CHEVROLET7 (14.3%)
4
FORD3 (6.1%)
5
HYUNDAI2 (4.1%)
6
SUBARU2 (4.1%)
7
MAZDA2 (4.1%)
8
VOLKSWAGEN2 (4.1%)
9
GMC2 (4.1%)
10
JEEP1 (2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (66 persons with recorded sex)

Female33 (50.0%)
↓-23.3%prior 43
Male33 (50.0%)
↓-29.8%prior 47

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones decreased from 18 in August 2021 to 13 in August 2022. Similarly, crashes in 40 mph zones decreased from 10 to 5, and in 55 mph zones from 3 to 1. No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed limit zone during either August 2021 or August 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · 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: 2022-08-01 through 2022-08-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-08-01 through 2022-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: SOMERSET, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 26
  • Total persons involved: 70
  • Total vehicles involved: 49

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: August 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/somerset/august-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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Somerset, MA Crash Report — August 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com