ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · CHICAGO, IL · FEBRUARY 2026
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/illinois/chicago/february-2026-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
7,823 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
FEBRUARY 2026
In February 2026, Chicago experienced 7,823 total crashes, a slight increase of 0.76% from the 7,764 crashes recorded in February 2025. The most notable shift was a 133.33% increase in total fatalities, rising from 3 in the prior period to 7 in the current period. This substantial rise in fatalities stands out amidst a relatively stable overall crash count.
7,823
▲ 0.8%was 7,764
Total Crash Events
7
▲ 133.3%was 3
Persons Killed
1,605
▲ 4.5%was 1,536
Persons Injured
2,328
▲ 0.2%was 2,323
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (7) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (6) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 8 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Overall, total crashes in Chicago for February showed a stable trend year-over-year, with a minor increase of 59 crashes, or 0.76%. However, this stability in total crash volume masks a significant increase in crash severity, particularly concerning fatalities.
2,328
Hit-and-Run Crashes — February 2026
▲ 0.2% vs prior (2,323)
Hit-and-run crashes saw a minor increase in count, rising from 2,323 in February 2025 to 2,328 in February 2026. The overall hit-and-run rate remained relatively stable year-over-year, showing a slight decrease from 29.9% to 29.8% of total crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
2
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
5
Motorists Killed
0
Other Killed
192
Pedestrians Injured
52
Cyclists Injured
1,359
Motorists Injured
2
Other Injured
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The temporal distribution of crashes saw a shift in the peak day, moving from Thursday with 1,644 crashes in February 2025 to Wednesday with 1,279 crashes in February 2026. The peak crash hour remained consistent at 3 PM for both periods, though the count at this hour increased from 585 to 636 crashes.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The fatal crash rate increased from 0.04% in February 2025 to 0.08% in February 2026, reflecting a rise in fatal crash events from 3 to 6. While serious injury crashes saw a minor decrease from 1% to 0.9% of total crashes, possible injury crashes increased from 5.8% to 6.5% year-over-year.
Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 6 fatal crash events resulted in 7 persons killed.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
Among contributing factors, 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' increased by 110 crashes, from 839 to 949, while 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY' decreased by 25 crashes, from 687 to 662. 'WEATHER' as a contributing factor saw a substantial decrease of 408 crashes, falling from 491 in the prior period to 83 in the current period, significantly altering its ranking among top factors.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
There was a notable shift in crash conditions, with crashes occurring in clear weather increasing by 720, from 5,529 to 6,249. Conversely, crashes in adverse weather conditions like snow decreased by 212 (from 582 to 370) and freezing rain/drizzle decreased by 353 (from 370 to 17). Similarly, crashes on dry road surfaces increased by 901, from 4,675 to 5,576, while those on ice decreased by 633, from 678 to 45.
Weather
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased slightly from 15,765 to 15,843. Among vehicle types, 'DRIVER' vehicles involved increased by 457 (from 12,997 to 13,454), while 'PARKED' vehicles decreased by 345 (from 2,375 to 2,030). The age group 65+ saw the largest increase in persons involved, rising by 162 from 895 to 1,057, while the 21-25 age group also increased by 147 persons.
Top Vehicle Makes (15,843 vehicles)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Vehicle unit records
4,985 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 (16,800 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The 30 mph speed zone continued to account for the majority of crashes, with its count increasing from 5,723 to 5,849. Critically, fatal crashes within this 30 mph zone doubled from 3 to 6, leading to an increase in its fatal crash rate from 0.052% to 0.103%. No other speed limits recorded fatal crashes in either period.
Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 6 of 5,849 (0.103%)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28 · 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: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28
- Report generated: June 1, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2026-02-01 through 2026-02-28 (28 days)
- Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
- Total crash records analyzed: 7,823
- Total persons involved: 17,113
- Total vehicles involved: 15,843
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-2026-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: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata
Period: 2026-02-01 – 2026-02-28
Generated: June 1, 2026 · All rights reserved