Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

25 CRASHES IN
SOUTHBRIDGE, MA
AUGUST 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2021

In August 2022, Southbridge experienced 25 total crashes, a decrease of 3.85% compared to the 26 crashes recorded in August 2021. Total injuries decreased from 4 to 3, representing a 25% reduction. A notable shift was the increase in hit-and-run crashes, which rose from 0 in August 2021 to 3 in August 2022.

25

-3.8%was 26

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

3

-25.0%was 4

Persons Injured

3

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. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

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 indicates a slight decrease in crash activity year-over-year, with total crashes falling by 3.85% from 26 to 25. Similarly, total injuries decreased by 25%, from 4 to 3, while fatalities remained at 0 in both periods.

3

Hit-and-Run Crashes — August 2022

12.0% hit-and-run rate this period vs 0.0% prior. Prior period: 0.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

3

Motorists Injured

Prior: 4-25.0%

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 peak day for crashes shifted from Friday with 7 crashes in August 2021 to Tuesday with 8 crashes in August 2022. The peak hour also shifted, with August 2021 seeing 5 crashes at 1 PM, while August 2022 recorded 4 crashes at 12 PM. Overall, crash distribution across days of the week and hours of the day varied between the two periods.

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

The fatal crash rate remained at 0% for both August 2021 and August 2022. Total injuries decreased from 4 in August 2021 to 3 in August 2022. Serious injuries remained constant at 1 crash in both periods, while possible injury crashes decreased from 3 to 1. Minor injury crashes, not present in August 2021, accounted for 1 crash in August 2022.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Serious Injury1serious injury crashes4%
0.0%prior 1
Minor Injury1minor injury crashes4%
Possible Injury1possible injury crashes4%
-66.7%prior 3
No Injury21no injury crashes84%
10.5%prior 19

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

The top contributing factor, 'Inattention,' decreased from 12 crashes in August 2021 to 4 crashes in August 2022, representing a 66.67% reduction in count. Conversely, 'No improper driving' crashes increased significantly from 3 in August 2021 to 12 in August 2022, a 300% increase in count. 'Distracted' driving, not listed in August 2021, accounted for 4 crashes in August 2022, and 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' increased from 0 to 1 crash.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving12 (48%)
Distracted4 (16%)
Inattention4 (16%)-66.7%prior 12
Exceeded authorized speed limit1 (4%)
Other improper action1 (4%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (4%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road1 (4%)

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

Weather conditions saw a slight shift, with 'Clear' conditions decreasing from 21 crashes in August 2021 to 20 in August 2022, and 'Cloudy' conditions decreasing from 4 to 2 crashes. There was an increase in 'Clear/Cloudy' conditions from 0 to 3 crashes, and 'Rain' conditions decreased from 1 crash to 0. In terms of lighting, 'Daylight' crashes decreased from 23 to 19, while 'Dark - lighted roadway' crashes increased from 3 to 4, and 'Dusk' crashes increased from 0 to 2.

Weather

Clear20 (80.0%)
-4.8%prior 21
Clear/Cloudy3 (12.0%)
Cloudy2 (8.0%)

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

Lighting

Daylight19 (76.0%)
-17.4%prior 23
Dark - lighted roadway4 (16.0%)
Dusk2 (8.0%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (48 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA9 (18.8%)
-40.0%prior 15
2
FORD8 (16.7%)
-20.0%prior 10
3
CHEVROLET5 (10.4%)
4
SUBARU4 (8.3%)
5
HONDA4 (8.3%)
-20.0%prior 5
6
ACURA3 (6.3%)
7
GMC2 (4.2%)
8
BUIC2 (4.2%)
9
HYUNDAI1 (2.1%)
10
INTL1 (2.1%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (40 persons with recorded sex)

Female20 (50.0%)
-9.1%prior 22
Male20 (50.0%)
-20.0%prior 25

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 the 25 mph speed zone remained constant at 13 for both periods. Crashes in the 30 mph zone decreased by 1, from 9 in August 2021 to 8 in August 2022. There was a shift in lower speed zones, with 1 crash occurring in the 15 mph zone in August 2022 (up from 0) and 0 crashes in the 20 mph zone (down from 1). All speed zones reported 0 fatalities in both periods.

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: SOUTHBRIDGE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 25
  • Total persons involved: 54
  • Total vehicles involved: 48

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). "SOUTHBRIDGE, 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/southbridge/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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Southbridge, MA Crash Report — August 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com