Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

7,764 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
FEBRUARY 2025

All metrics benchmarked againstFebruary 2024

In February 2025, Chicago recorded 7764 total crashes, a slight decrease from 7800 crashes in February 2024. This represents a 0.46% reduction in total crashes year-over-year. The most notable shift was a significant decrease in total fatalities, which fell by 62.5% compared to the prior year.

7,764

▼ -0.5%was 7,800

Total Crash Events

▼ -62.5%was 8

Persons Killed

1,536

▼ -8.4%was 1,677

Persons Injured

2,323

▼ -5.9%was 2,468

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (3) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 12 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend indicates a slight decrease in total crashes, with 7764 crashes in February 2025 compared to 7800 in February 2024. This represents a reduction of 36 crashes year-over-year. Total injuries also saw a decrease of 141, falling from 1677 to 1536.

2,323

Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2025

▼ -5.9% vs prior (2,468)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 2468 in February 2024 to 2323 in February 2025, a reduction of 145 incidents. The hit-and-run rate also decreased from 31.6% to 29.9% of total crashes, indicating a downward trend in these types of incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 4↓-75.0%

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

Motorists Killed

Prior: 4↓-50.0%

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

202

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 238↓-15.1%

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 55↓-47.3%

1,304

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,382↓-5.6%

Other Injured

Prior: 2↓-50.0%

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

Thursday remained the peak day for crashes in both periods, with 1644 crashes in February 2025, an increase of 252 crashes from 1392 in February 2024. The peak hour for crashes was 3 PM in both years, though the count decreased from 641 in February 2024 to 585 in February 2025. Crashes on Saturdays decreased by 210 incidents, from 1168 to 958.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Total fatalities decreased from 8 in February 2024 to 3 in February 2025, representing a 62.5% reduction. The fatal crash rate decreased from 0.09% to 0.04% of all crashes year-over-year. Serious injury (A) crashes decreased from 110 to 79, while possible injury (C) crashes increased from 425 to 449.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal3fatal crashes0%

↓-57.1%prior 7

Serious Injury79serious injury crashes1%

↓-28.2%prior 110

Minor Injury585minor injury crashes7.5%

↓-15.2%prior 690

Possible Injury449possible injury crashes5.8%

↑5.6%prior 425

No Injury6,636no injury crashes85.5%

↑1.2%prior 6,555

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

"WEATHER" as a contributing factor saw a substantial increase of 440 incidents, rising from 51 in February 2024 to 491 in February 2025, an 862.7% change in count. "FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY" also increased by 89 incidents, from 598 to 687, a 14.9% change in count. Conversely, "FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY" decreased by 70 incidents, from 909 to 839, a 7.7% change in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY839 (10.8%)↓-7.7%prior 909

FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY687 (8.8%)↑14.9%prior 598

WEATHER491 (6.3%)↑862.7%prior 51

IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING383 (4.9%)↓-13.2%prior 441

FAILING TO REDUCE SPEED TO AVOID CRASH302 (3.9%)↓-3.5%prior 313

DRIVING SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE285 (3.7%)↓-2.4%prior 292

IMPROPER LANE USAGE245 (3.2%)↓-7.2%prior 264

IMPROPER TURNING/NO SIGNAL233 (3%)↓-16.8%prior 280

IMPROPER BACKING204 (2.6%)↓-25.0%prior 272

DISREGARDING TRAFFIC SIGNALS162 (2.1%)↑5.9%prior 153

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in "SNOW" conditions increased significantly by 442 incidents, from 140 in February 2024 to 582 in February 2025. "FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE" conditions also saw a notable increase of 362 crashes, rising from 8 to 370. Correspondingly, crashes on "ICE" road surfaces increased by 622 incidents, from 56 to 678, and on "SNOW OR SLUSH" surfaces by 507 incidents, from 76 to 583.

Weather

CLEAR5,529 (78.1%)

↓-18.2%prior 6,756

SNOW582 (8.2%)

↑315.7%prior 140

FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE370 (5.2%)

↑4525.0%prior 8

CLOUDY/OVERCAST267 (3.8%)

↑93.5%prior 138

RAIN151 (2.1%)

↑28.0%prior 118

OTHER96 (1.4%)

↑269.2%prior 26

SLEET/HAIL63 (0.9%)

↑1475.0%prior 4

FOG/SMOKE/HAZE12 (0.2%)

↑20.0%prior 10

BLOWING SNOW10 (0.1%)

↑100.0%prior 5

BLOWING SAND, SOIL, DIRT1 (0.0%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

DAYLIGHT4,571 (63.3%)

↓-1.0%prior 4,616

DARKNESS, LIGHTED ROAD1,924 (26.6%)

↓-3.6%prior 1,995

DARKNESS395 (5.5%)

↑10.6%prior 357

DUSK201 (2.8%)

↑1.0%prior 199

DAWN129 (1.8%)

↓-10.4%prior 144

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

DRY4,675 (70.6%)

↓-24.6%prior 6,203

ICE678 (10.2%)

↑1110.7%prior 56

WET635 (9.6%)

↑130.1%prior 276

SNOW OR SLUSH583 (8.8%)

↑667.1%prior 76

OTHER44 (0.7%)

↑91.3%prior 23

SAND, MUD, DIRT3 (0.0%)

↑50.0%prior 2

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased slightly from 15906 in February 2024 to 15765 in February 2025. Toyota remained the top vehicle make involved, increasing by 53 incidents from 1886 to 1939. The number of persons aged 65 and older involved in crashes decreased by 105, from 1000 to 895.

Top Vehicle Makes (15,765 vehicles)

TOYOTA1,939 (12.3%)

↑2.8%prior 1,886

CHEVROLET1,638 (10.4%)

↓-0.7%prior 1,650

FORD1,521 (9.6%)

↓-0.5%prior 1,529

HONDA1,254 (8%)

↓-2.0%prior 1,280

NISSAN1,152 (7.3%)

↓-1.3%prior 1,167

JEEP718 (4.6%)

↓-0.4%prior 721

HYUNDAI624 (4%)

↓-1.0%prior 630

DODGE518 (3.3%)

↓-14.9%prior 609

KIA435 (2.8%)

↓-7.1%prior 468

VOLKSWAGEN327 (2.1%)

↑1.6%prior 322

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Vehicle unit records

4,875 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart. Age=0 in Chicago records is a sentinel for unknown/unrecorded age (not infants) and is grouped with nulls.

Sex Distribution (16,160 persons with recorded sex)

Male8,570 (53.0%)

↓-2.6%prior 8,799

Female5,959 (36.9%)

↓-3.7%prior 6,191

Non-Binary1,631 (10.1%)

↓-1.6%prior 1,658

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 30 mph speed limit zone decreased by 52 incidents, from 5775 in February 2024 to 5723 in February 2025. Fatalities within this zone decreased from 6 to 3, causing the fatal crash rate to drop from 0.104% to 0.052%. Conversely, crashes in the 25 mph speed limit zone increased by 90 incidents, from 527 to 617, while fatalities in this zone decreased from 1 to 0.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 3 of 5,723 (0.052%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2025-02-01 to 2025-02-28 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Chicago Traffic Crashes, accessed programmatically via the Socrata 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: Socrata 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: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28
Report generated: June 1, 2026

Data Coverage

Reporting period: 2025-02-01 through 2025-02-28 (28 days)
Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
Total crash records analyzed: 7,764
Total persons involved: 16,489
Total vehicles involved: 15,765

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). "Chicago, IL Crash Intelligence Report." Published June 1, 2026. Data source: Chicago Traffic Crashes, Socrata Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/illinois/chicago/february-2025-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

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7,764 CRASHES INCHICAGO, ILFEBRUARY 2025