Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

21 CRASHES IN
WINCHESTER, MA
MAY 2022

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2021

WINCHESTER experienced a significant increase in crash activity in May 2022 compared to May 2021, with total crashes rising from 15 to 21, a 40% increase. The most notable shift was the emergence of one fatal crash in May 2022, whereas no fatalities were recorded in May 2021.

21

40.0%was 15

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

9

800.0%was 1

Persons Injured

1

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) 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 · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash activity in WINCHESTER showed an upward trend year-over-year. Total crashes increased by 6, from 15 in May 2021 to 21 in May 2022, representing a 40% rise. Fatalities increased from 0 to 1, and total injuries rose significantly from 1 to 9.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 10.0%

8

Motorists Injured

Prior: 0%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted considerably year-over-year. The peak day for crashes moved from Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (3 crashes each) in May 2021 to Saturday (6 crashes) in May 2022. The peak hour also shifted from 8 AM (4 crashes) in May 2021 to 11 PM (5 crashes) in May 2022.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity increased markedly in May 2022 compared to May 2021. The fatal crash rate rose from 0% to 4.76%, with one fatality recorded in May 2022 compared to none in May 2021. Minor Injury crashes increased from 1 (6.7% share) to 5 (23.8% share), and Possible Injury crashes, absent in the prior period, accounted for 2 crashes (9.5% share) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes4.8%
Minor Injury5minor injury crashes23.8%
400.0%prior 1
Possible Injury2possible injury crashes9.5%
No Injury13no injury crashes61.9%
0.0%prior 13

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Contributing factors saw some shifts year-over-year. 'Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner' increased from 0 crashes in May 2021 to 3 crashes in May 2022. 'Inattention' and 'Followed too closely' also emerged as factors in May 2022, each contributing to 2 crashes, where they were not present in May 2021. 'Failed to yield right of way' decreased from 3 crashes to 2 crashes.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving3 (14.3%)
Operating vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner3 (14.3%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (9.5%)
Inattention2 (9.5%)
Followed too closely2 (9.5%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway1 (4.8%)
Visibility obstructed1 (4.8%)
Other improper action1 (4.8%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings1 (4.8%)
History heart/epilepsy/fainting1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions remained largely consistent, with the majority of crashes occurring under clear weather, daylight, and dry road surfaces in both periods. Crashes occurring on dry road surfaces increased from 14 in May 2021 to 19 in May 2022. There was no notable shift towards a higher proportion of crashes occurring under adverse weather or lighting conditions.

Weather

Clear/Clear15 (71.4%)
7.1%prior 14
Cloudy/Unknown2 (9.5%)
Clear/Unknown1 (4.8%)
Cloudy/Cloudy1 (4.8%)
Rain/Cloudy1 (4.8%)
Rain/Rain1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight14 (66.7%)
7.7%prior 13
Dark - lighted roadway6 (28.6%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (4.8%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry19 (90.5%)
35.7%prior 14
Wet2 (9.5%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (37 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA4 (10.8%)
2
MERCEDES-BENZ3 (8.1%)
3
SUBARU3 (8.1%)
4
BMW2 (5.4%)
5
FORD2 (5.4%)
6
CHEVROLET2 (5.4%)
7
FORD TRANSIT1 (2.7%)
8
HONDA1 (2.7%)
9
KIA SORENTO1 (2.7%)
10
LEXUS1 (2.7%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (40 persons with recorded sex)

Female21 (52.5%)
110.0%prior 10
Male19 (47.5%)
0.0%prior 19

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph speed zones increased from 6 in May 2021 to 9 in May 2022, and those in 35 mph speed zones increased from 2 to 5. A fatal crash occurred in a 35 mph zone in May 2022, whereas no fatal crashes were recorded in any speed zone in May 2021. This indicates a shift in crash distribution towards higher speed limit zones, including the occurrence of a fatality.

Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 5 (20%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31 · 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: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-05-01 through 2022-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WINCHESTER, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 21
  • Total persons involved: 44
  • Total vehicles involved: 37

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). "WINCHESTER, MA Crash Intelligence Report: May 2022." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2022-05-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/winchester/may-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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Winchester, MA Crash Report — May 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com