Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

710 CRASHES IN
SOMERVILLE, MA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In Somerville, total vehicle crashes increased by 11% from 640 incidents in 2021 to 710 in 2022. Despite this rise in total collisions, the most significant year-over-year change was a reduction in traffic fatalities, which dropped from two in the prior period to zero in the current period. The total number of injuries rose from 229 to 257, an increase of 12%.

710

10.9%was 640

Total Crash Events

0

-100.0%was 2

Persons Killed

257

12.2%was 229

Persons Injured

28

-30.0%was 40

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. 12 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 indicates a rising trend in collisions, with total incidents increasing from 640 in 2021 to 710 in 2022. This represents an 11% year-over-year increase. The number of people injured in these crashes also grew by 12.2%, from 229 individuals in 2021 to 257 in 2022.

28

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2022

-30.0% vs prior (40)

Hit-and-run incidents showed a downward trend year-over-year. The total count of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 40 in 2021 to 28 in 2022. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate, as a percentage of total crashes, fell from 6.3% in the prior period to 3.9% 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%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

24

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 25-4.0%

35

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 2540.0%

196

Motorists Injured

Prior: 17710.7%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 20.0%

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 remained broadly consistent year-over-year. Friday was the peak day for crashes in both 2021 (109 crashes) and 2022 (123 crashes). However, the peak hour for collisions shifted earlier in the day, moving from 5 p.m. in 2021 (45 crashes) to 2 p.m. in 2022 (55 crashes).

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

While total crashes increased, the severity of outcomes improved from 2021 to 2022. Fatal crashes were eliminated, decreasing from two incidents in 2021 to zero in 2022. Crashes resulting in serious injuries also decreased from 11 to 6. Conversely, crashes involving possible injuries increased from 67 to 90, and property-damage-only crashes rose from 418 to 479.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury6serious injury crashes0.8%
-45.5%prior 11
Minor Injury123minor injury crashes17.3%
1.7%prior 121
Possible Injury90possible injury crashes12.7%
34.3%prior 67
No Injury479no injury crashes67.5%
14.6%prior 418

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 leading contributing factors remained consistent between the two periods, with 'No improper driving' cited most frequently in both 2021 (110 incidents) and 2022 (128 incidents). However, the count of crashes attributed to 'Followed too closely' grew significantly, rising from 58 to 82 incidents, a 41% increase in count. Similarly, crashes involving 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' increased by 38% in count, from 29 to 40 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving128 (18%)16.4%prior 110
Followed too closely82 (11.5%)41.4%prior 58
Failed to yield right of way72 (10.1%)5.9%prior 68
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings40 (5.6%)37.9%prior 29
Inattention36 (5.1%)0.0%prior 36
Other improper action32 (4.5%)10.3%prior 29
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road27 (3.8%)28.6%prior 21
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner14 (2%)-6.7%prior 15
Made an improper turn11 (1.5%)120.0%prior 5
Exceeded authorized speed limit9 (1.3%)50.0%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

In both years, a majority of crashes occurred in clear weather and on dry roads. The number of crashes on dry roads increased from 517 in 2021 to 598 in 2022, while crashes on wet roads decreased from 103 to 77. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight conditions also increased, accounting for 62% of crashes in 2021 and rising to 68% in 2022.

Weather

Clear446 (63.6%)
21.2%prior 368
Clear/Clear105 (15.0%)
6.1%prior 99
Cloudy62 (8.8%)
3.3%prior 60
Rain26 (3.7%)
-36.6%prior 41
Cloudy/Rain13 (1.9%)
8.3%prior 12
Rain/Rain11 (1.6%)
-26.7%prior 15
Snow8 (1.1%)
Cloudy/Cloudy3 (0.4%)
Snow/Sleet, hail (freezing rain or drizzle)3 (0.4%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (0.4%)

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

Lighting

Daylight482 (67.9%)
20.8%prior 399
Dark - lighted roadway197 (27.7%)
3.7%prior 190
Dusk16 (2.3%)
-44.8%prior 29
Dawn8 (1.1%)
0.0%prior 8
Dark - roadway not lighted4 (0.6%)
-42.9%prior 7
Dark - unknown roadway lighting3 (0.4%)
-40.0%prior 5

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

Road Surface

Dry598 (84.5%)
15.7%prior 517
Wet77 (10.9%)
-25.2%prior 103
Snow15 (2.1%)
66.7%prior 9
Ice7 (1.0%)
Slush6 (0.8%)
20.0%prior 5
Other3 (0.4%)
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel1 (0.1%)
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 vehicle makes involved in collisions showed little change, with Toyota (260 vehicles) and Honda (186 vehicles) remaining the most common in 2022, consistent with the prior year's rankings. Analysis of person demographics shows the 26-34 age group was the most represented in both periods, with their involvement increasing from 314 individuals in 2021 to 421 in 2022. The number of persons aged 65 and older involved in crashes also saw a notable increase, from 83 to 126.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,363 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA260 (19.1%)
11.6%prior 233
2
HONDA186 (13.6%)
2.2%prior 182
3
FORD144 (10.6%)
8.3%prior 133
4
NISSAN97 (7.1%)
24.4%prior 78
5
SUBARU66 (4.8%)
1.5%prior 65
6
CHEVROLET66 (4.8%)
-10.8%prior 74
7
JEEP61 (4.5%)
64.9%prior 37
8
HYUNDAI39 (2.9%)
5.4%prior 37
9
KIA36 (2.6%)
80.0%prior 20
10
BMW32 (2.3%)
166.7%prior 12

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

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

Sex Distribution (1,472 persons with recorded sex)

Male901 (61.2%)
13.3%prior 795
Female571 (38.8%)
31.3%prior 435

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 predominantly occurred in lower speed zones in both periods, with 25 mph zones seeing the highest volume. Collisions in 25 mph zones increased from 299 in 2021 to 339 in 2022. Notably, the two fatal crashes recorded in 2021 occurred in 25 mph and 35 mph zones, while no fatal crashes were reported in any speed zone 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: SOMERVILLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 710
  • Total persons involved: 1,670
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,363

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). "SOMERVILLE, 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/somerville/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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Somerville, MA Crash Report — 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com