Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

26 CRASHES IN
WATERTOWN, MA
SEPTEMBER 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstSeptember 2021

In September 2022, Watertown recorded 26 crashes, a decrease from the 29 crashes reported in September 2021, representing a 10.34% reduction year-over-year. Total injuries also decreased by 25%, from 8 to 6. Notably, there were no DUI-related crashes, pedestrian crashes, or bicycle crashes in the current period, compared to 2 DUI crashes, 1 pedestrian crash, and 3 bicycle crashes in the prior period.

26

-10.3%was 29

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

6

-25.0%was 8

Persons Injured

0

Fatal Crash Events

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 · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in Watertown saw a declining trend year-over-year. Total crashes decreased by 10.34%, from 29 in September 2021 to 26 in September 2022. Concurrently, the total number of injured persons fell by 25%, from 8 to 6.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

6

Motorists Injured

Prior: 520.0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · 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 Wednesday in September 2021 to Thursday in September 2022, with both days recording 8 crashes in their respective periods. The peak hour for crashes also changed, moving from 2 PM with 5 crashes in the prior period to 10 AM with 6 crashes in the current period.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

There were no fatal crashes or fatalities reported in either period. Minor injury crashes decreased significantly from 4 in September 2021 to 1 in September 2022, while possible injury crashes increased from 3 to 4. Crashes resulting in no injury remained at 21, but their proportion of total crashes rose from 72.4% to 80.8%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury1minor injury crashes3.8%
-75.0%prior 4
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes15.4%
33.3%prior 3
No Injury21no injury crashes80.8%
0.0%prior 21

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The most notable shift in contributing factors was 'Failed to yield right of way,' which increased from 3 crashes in the prior period to 7 crashes in the current period, a 133.33% increase in count. Conversely, 'No improper driving' decreased by 70%, from 10 crashes to 3 crashes. Factors like 'Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road' and 'Driving too fast for conditions' appeared in the current period with 2 and 1 crashes respectively, while 'Operating vehicle in erratic' and 'Disregarded traffic signs' were present in the prior period but not the current.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Failed to yield right of way7 (26.9%)
Inattention5 (19.2%)0.0%prior 5
No improper driving3 (11.5%)-70.0%prior 10
Other improper action2 (7.7%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (7.7%)
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road2 (7.7%)
Followed too closely1 (3.8%)
Glare1 (3.8%)
Made an improper turn1 (3.8%)
Driving too fast for conditions1 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather decreased from 24 in the prior period to 22 in the current period, and cloudy conditions saw a decrease from 3 to 2 crashes. Crashes during daylight hours decreased from 25 to 23, while those in dark-lighted roadway conditions decreased from 4 to 2. Crashes on wet road surfaces remained consistent at 2 in both periods, and a single crash occurred at dusk in the current period, a condition not reported in the prior period.

Weather

Clear22 (84.6%)
-8.3%prior 24
Cloudy2 (7.7%)
Rain2 (7.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight23 (88.5%)
-8.0%prior 25
Dark - lighted roadway2 (7.7%)
Dusk1 (3.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry24 (92.3%)
-11.1%prior 27
Wet2 (7.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased slightly from 52 in the prior period to 53 in the current period. Toyota became the most frequent vehicle make involved, increasing from 7 to 13, while Ford, previously the most frequent with 10 vehicles, was not among the top three in the current period. The number of persons aged 21-25 involved in crashes doubled from 3 to 6, while persons aged 45-54 decreased from 12 to 9, and those aged 65 and older decreased from 9 to 8.

Top Vehicle Makes (53 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA13 (24.5%)
85.7%prior 7
2
HONDA10 (18.9%)
66.7%prior 6
3
NISSAN5 (9.4%)
4
JEEP3 (5.7%)
5
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.8%)
6
FORD2 (3.8%)
-80.0%prior 10
7
LEXUS2 (3.8%)
8
SUBARU2 (3.8%)
9
BMW2 (3.8%)
10
MAZDA1 (1.9%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (57 persons with recorded sex)

Male32 (56.1%)
-8.6%prior 35
Female25 (43.9%)
19.0%prior 21

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

No fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone for either period. The number of crashes occurring in 30 mph zones decreased from 22 in the prior period to 20 in the current period. The current period saw the emergence of crashes in 20 mph (1 crash), 25 mph (3 crashes), and 35 mph (1 crash) zones, which were not present in the prior period's data, while a single crash in a 5 mph zone from the prior period was not observed in the current.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30 · 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: 2022-09-01 through 2022-09-30
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-09-01 through 2022-09-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: WATERTOWN, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 26
  • Total persons involved: 61
  • Total vehicles involved: 53

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). "WATERTOWN, MA Crash Intelligence Report: September 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2022-09-30. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/watertown/september-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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Watertown, MA Crash Report — September 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com