Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

740 CRASHES IN
VERMONT, VT
MAY 2018

All metrics benchmarked againstMay 2017

In May 2018, there were 740 total traffic crashes, a 15.1% decrease from the 872 crashes recorded in May 2017. Despite the overall reduction in collisions, the number of fatalities increased from three to four year-over-year. The most notable shift was the overall decline in crash volume, even as the proportion of severe crashes increased.

740

-15.1%was 872

Total Crash Events

4

33.3%was 3

Fatal Crashes

167

2.5%was 163

Injury Crashes

4

33.3%was 3

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Fatal Crashes" and "Injury Crashes" count crash events — this source publishes crash-level counts only, not individual persons.

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Comparing May 2018 to May 2017, the overall number of traffic crashes showed a significant downward trend, falling by 15.1% from 872 to 740. However, this decrease in total collisions did not correspond with a uniform reduction in harm. The number of reported injuries rose slightly from 163 to 167, and fatalities increased from three to four.

When Crashes Happen

The time patterns of crashes showed some shifts between May 2017 and May 2018. The peak day for collisions moved from Wednesday (152 crashes) in the prior year to Thursday (132 crashes) in the current period. The peak hour for collisions remained the 3 p.m. hour for both years, though the number of incidents during this time decreased from 93 to 76.

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Although the total number of crashes fell, the proportion of severe crashes increased from May 2017 to May 2018. The fatal crash rate rose from 0.34 to 0.54 per 100 crashes, with four fatal crashes in May 2018 compared to three in the prior year. The share of crashes resulting in an injury also grew, accounting for 22.6% of all collisions in May 2018, up from 18.7% in May 2017.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal4fatal crashes0.5%
33.3%prior 3
Injury167minor injury crashes22.6%
2.5%prior 163
No Injury569no injury crashes76.9%
-7.5%prior 615

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Severity derived from reported fatal/injury indicators (no KABCO A/B/C codes)

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Road & Environmental Conditions

Environmental conditions during crashes shifted significantly between the two periods, with collisions in May 2018 occurring more frequently in ideal conditions. The proportion of crashes in clear weather increased substantially, from 44.4% in May 2017 to 63.9% in May 2018. Correspondingly, crashes on dry road surfaces rose from 58.3% of the total in the prior year to 72.8% in the current year, while the distribution of crashes by lighting conditions remained stable.

Weather

Clear473 (77.4%)
22.2%prior 387
Cloudy97 (15.9%)
-46.1%prior 180
Rain41 (6.7%)
-68.2%prior 129

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight606 (82.3%)
-13.8%prior 703
Dark130 (17.7%)
-15.0%prior 153

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry539 (89.4%)
6.1%prior 508
Wet59 (9.8%)
-65.9%prior 173
Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel2 (0.3%)
-71.4%prior 7
Water (standing / moving)2 (0.3%)
Other - Explain in Narrative1 (0.2%)

Source: Vermont Crash Data · Arcgis Open Data · 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31 · Road surface condition field

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Vermont Crash Data, accessed programmatically via the Arcgis 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 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: 2018-05-01 through 2018-05-31
  • Report generated: July 5, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2018-05-01 through 2018-05-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: vermont, VT
  • Total crash records analyzed: 740

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). "vermont, VT Crash Intelligence Report: May 2018." Published July 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2018-05-01 to 2018-05-31. Data source: Vermont Crash Data, Arcgis Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/vermont/statewide/may-2018-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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Vermont (Statewide) Crash Report — May 2018 | ThatCarHitMe.com