ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MASSACHUSETTS, MA · MARCH 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/march-2022-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
9,961 CRASHES IN
MASSACHUSETTS, MA
MARCH 2022
In March 2022, there were 9,961 total traffic crashes, a 21.6% increase from the 8,194 crashes recorded in March 2021. This rise was accompanied by a 20% increase in injuries, from 2,441 to 2,928, while fatalities remained nearly stable at 25 compared to 26 in the prior year. One of the most notable shifts was a substantial increase in crashes occurring in adverse weather, with incidents in snow and rain growing significantly compared to the previous year.
9,961
▲ 21.6%was 8,194
Total Crash Events
25
▼ -3.8%was 26
Persons Killed
2,928
▲ 20.0%was 2,441
Persons Injured
775
▲ 44.6%was 536
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (25) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (25) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 894 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall traffic safety trends worsened year-over-year. The total number of crashes increased by 21.6%, rising from 8,194 in March 2021 to 9,961 in March 2022. Similarly, the number of people injured in these incidents grew by 20.0%, from 2,441 to 2,928. However, the number of fatalities saw a slight decrease from 26 to 25.
775
Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2022
▲ 44.6% vs prior (536)
Hit-and-run incidents increased significantly in both count and rate. The number of hit-and-run crashes rose by 44.6%, from 536 in March 2021 to 775 in March 2022. The hit-and-run rate, representing the proportion of all crashes that were hit-and-runs, also trended upward from 6.5% to 7.8% year-over-year.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
6
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
19
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
135
Pedestrians Injured
40
Cyclists Injured
2,744
Motorists Injured
9
Other Injured
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak hour for crashes was consistent across both periods, occurring at 3 p.m. with 845 crashes in March 2022 and 757 in March 2021. However, the peak day of the week shifted from Monday in the prior year (1,312 crashes) to Wednesday in the current period (1,728 crashes). Weekday crash volumes, particularly Tuesday through Friday, were substantially higher in March 2022 compared to the same month in 2021.
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The fatal crash rate decreased from 0.32% in March 2021 to 0.25% in March 2022. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury (Serious, Minor, or Possible) also saw a slight decline, from a combined 22.3% of all crashes in the prior year to 21.4% in the current period. Correspondingly, the share of crashes with no reported injuries increased from 68.3% to 69.4% year-over-year.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution (Crash Events)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The top three contributing factors remained the same in both periods: "No improper driving," "Inattention," and "Failed to yield right of way." The count of crashes involving inattention grew by 11.5% from 1,218 to 1,358 incidents. A more significant change was observed in crashes attributed to "Driving too fast for conditions," which increased from 75 incidents in March 2021 to 271 in March 2022.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
Adverse weather and road conditions were substantially more prevalent in crashes during March 2022 compared to March 2021. Crashes occurring in snow increased from 6 to 386, and those on icy roads rose from 11 to 281. Consequently, the proportion of crashes on dry road surfaces fell from 91.0% in the prior year to 73.6% in the current period. The share of crashes happening during daylight hours decreased slightly from 70.6% to 67.7%.
Weather
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The most common vehicle makes involved in crashes were consistent year-over-year, with Toyota, Honda, and Ford holding the top three spots in both periods. The number of vehicles from these top makes involved in crashes increased in line with the overall trend, with Toyota-involved vehicles rising from 2,440 to 2,984. The age distribution of persons involved in collisions also remained stable, with the 26-34 age group being the largest cohort in both years, accounting for 17.6% of persons in March 2021 and 16.6% in March 2022.
Top Vehicle Makes (18,300 vehicles)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,696 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (19,559 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The distribution of crashes across posted speed limits remained largely consistent, with 30 mph zones accounting for the highest number of incidents in both March 2021 (2,469 crashes) and March 2022 (2,723 crashes). However, the fatal crash rate within 30 mph zones increased from 0.12% to 0.29%, representing a rise from 3 to 8 fatal crashes. In contrast, the fatal crash rate in 25 mph zones decreased from 0.44% to 0.39%, despite an increase in total crashes in that zone.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 7 of 1,803 (0.388%) · 30 mph: 8 of 2,723 (0.294%) · 35 mph: 1 of 1,485 (0.067%) · 40 mph: 1 of 678 (0.147%) · 45 mph: 2 of 368 (0.543%) · 65 mph: 2 of 558 (0.358%)
Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31 · 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: 2022-03-01 through 2022-03-31
- Report generated: June 21, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2022-03-01 through 2022-03-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: massachusetts, MA
- Total crash records analyzed: 9,961
- Total persons involved: 22,537
- Total vehicles involved: 18,300
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: March 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2022-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/statewide/march-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: 2022-03-01 – 2022-03-31
Generated: June 21, 2026 · All rights reserved