ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · JANUARY 2022
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/massachusetts/statewide/january-2022-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
11,300 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
JANUARY 2022
In January 2022, Massachusetts recorded 11,300 motor vehicle crashes, a 36.5% increase from the 8,276 crashes documented in January 2021. This year-over-year rise was accompanied by a 27.3% increase in fatalities and a 22.6% increase in injuries. The most notable shift was a significant increase in crashes occurring on adverse road surfaces such as snow, ice, and slush, which rose by 84.2% and accounted for a larger proportion of total incidents compared to the previous year.
11,300
▲ 36.5%was 8,276
Total Crash Events
28
▲ 27.3%was 22
Persons Killed
2,795
▲ 22.6%was 2,279
Persons Injured
800
▲ 54.1%was 519
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (28) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (28) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 1,011 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 2022-01-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Traffic crashes in January 2022 showed a significant upward trend compared to the same month in 2021. Total crashes increased by 36.5%, from 8,276 to 11,300. Similarly, total fatalities rose from 22 to 28, and the number of injuries increased from 2,279 to 2,795.
800
Hit-and-Run Crashes — January 2022
▲ 54.1% vs prior (519)
Hit-and-run incidents increased both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of total crashes. The count of hit-and-run crashes rose by 54.1%, from 519 in January 2021 to 800 in January 2022. The hit-and-run rate also trended upward, increasing from 6.3% to 7.1% of all reported crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
9
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
19
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
118
Pedestrians Injured
24
Cyclists Injured
2,646
Motorists Injured
7
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In January 2022, the peak day for crashes was Monday with 1,891 incidents, a change from the prior year's peak on Tuesday. The peak hour for crashes moved from the evening commute (5 PM) in 2021 to the morning commute (8 AM) in 2022, which saw 851 crashes.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
While the absolute number of fatal and injury crashes increased, their proportion relative to all crashes decreased. Fatal crashes represented 0.2% of all incidents in January 2022, down from 0.3% in January 2021. Similarly, the share of crashes resulting in any injury (serious, minor, or possible) fell from 20.8% to 18.8%, while the proportion of non-injury crashes rose from 68.7% to 72.0%.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The top three contributing factors remained 'No improper driving,' 'Inattention,' and 'Failed to yield right of way' in both periods. However, the count of crashes involving 'Driving too fast for conditions' grew by 55.8% (from 419 to 653), and those involving 'Exceeded authorized speed limit' increased by 51.8% (from 110 to 167). The share of crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' also rose, from 5.1% in the prior period to 5.8% in the current period.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
There was a substantial shift in the road conditions under which crashes occurred. The proportion of crashes on adverse road surfaces (snow, wet, ice, or slush) increased from 29.1% of all crashes in January 2021 to 39.3% in January 2022. The count of crashes on these surfaces rose by 84.2%, with incidents on icy roads increasing from 285 to 1,071. Correspondingly, the share of crashes on dry roads decreased from 69.4% to 58.9%.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The top five vehicle makes involved in crashes (Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan) were identical in both periods, and their proportional involvement remained stable. Analysis of persons involved shows the 0-15 age group's representation increased from 3.96% of all persons in the prior period to 5.26% in the current period. Most other age demographics saw their proportional share of involvement decrease slightly.
Top Vehicle Makes (19,999 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,723 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (21,431 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The distribution of crashes across speed zones remained relatively consistent, with a slight proportional shift toward higher-speed (55-65 mph) zones. In January 2022, 11.5% of crashes with a recorded speed limit occurred in these zones, compared to 11.2% in the prior year. The fatal crash rate within the 65 mph zone decreased from 1.632 to 0.629, while the rate in the 55 mph zone increased from 0 to 0.753, with four fatal crashes recorded in the current period versus none in the prior.
Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 7 of 3,257 (0.215%) · 35 mph: 4 of 1,590 (0.252%) · 40 mph: 3 of 916 (0.328%) · 45 mph: 2 of 379 (0.528%) · 50 mph: 1 of 246 (0.407%) · 55 mph: 4 of 531 (0.753%) · 60 mph: 1 of 43 (2.326%) · 65 mph: 4 of 636 (0.629%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31 · 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 2022-01-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-01-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 11,300
- Total persons involved: 24,479
- Total vehicles involved: 19,999
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). "massachusetts, MA Crash Intelligence Report: January 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-01-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/january-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
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly
Period: 2022-01-01 – 2022-01-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved