Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

10,335 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
JUNE 2021

All metrics benchmarked againstJune 2020

Total crashes in June 2021 were 10335, a notable increase from 7681 crashes in June 2020, representing a 34.55% rise year-over-year. Despite this increase in overall crashes, the total number of fatalities remained stable at 15 in both periods. The most significant year-over-year shift was the substantial increase in total crash incidents.

10,335

34.6%was 7,681

Total Crash Events

15

Persons Killed

2,366

29.3%was 1,830

Persons Injured

3,573

32.4%was 2,698

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (15) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (15) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 13 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash incidents in Chicago showed an upward trend year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by 34.55% from 7681 in June 2020 to 10335 in June 2021. Total injuries also rose by 29.29%, from 1830 to 2366, indicating a general increase in crash-related harm. However, the total number of fatalities remained unchanged at 15 for both periods.

3,573

Hit-and-Run Crashes — June 2021

32.4% vs prior (2,698)

The number of hit-and-run crashes increased by 32.43% year-over-year, rising from 2698 in June 2020 to 3573 in June 2021. However, the proportion of total crashes that were hit-and-run incidents slightly decreased from 35.1% to 34.6%.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 3-33.3%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 1-100.0%

13

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1118.2%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

188

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 14926.2%

157

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 11833.1%

2,016

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,56129.1%

5

Other Injured

Prior: 2150.0%

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns for crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day changing from Monday in June 2020 (1255 crashes) to Saturday in June 2021 (1639 crashes). The peak crash hour also shifted slightly from 5p in June 2020 (609 crashes) to 4p in June 2021 (848 crashes). These changes suggest a shift in when the highest volumes of crashes occur.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The overall fatal crash rate slightly decreased from 0.17% in June 2020 to 0.15% in June 2021, even as the count of fatal crashes increased from 13 to 15. Total injuries, as reported in KPIs, increased by 29.29% from 1830 to 2366 year-over-year. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury (Serious, Minor, Possible) remained relatively stable, with 16.48% in June 2020 and 16.22% in June 2021.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal15fatal crashes0.1%
15.4%prior 13
Serious Injury208serious injury crashes2%
16.2%prior 179
Minor Injury986minor injury crashes9.5%
30.1%prior 758
Possible Injury483possible injury crashes4.7%
46.8%prior 329
No Injury8,630no injury crashes83.5%
35.4%prior 6,372

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors in both periods were 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' and 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY', which both saw significant increases in count. 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' crashes increased from 791 to 1071, a 35.39% rise, while 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY' crashes increased from 682 to 895, a 31.23% rise. 'IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING' also increased by 42.17% in count, moving from the fourth most common factor in June 2020 to the third most common in June 2021.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY1,071 (10.4%)35.4%prior 791
FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY895 (8.7%)31.2%prior 682
IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING499 (4.8%)42.2%prior 351
FAILING TO REDUCE SPEED TO AVOID CRASH438 (4.2%)6.3%prior 412
DRIVING SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE384 (3.7%)75.3%prior 219
IMPROPER BACKING379 (3.7%)25.9%prior 301
IMPROPER LANE USAGE345 (3.3%)30.7%prior 264
IMPROPER TURNING/NO SIGNAL325 (3.1%)18.6%prior 274
DISREGARDING TRAFFIC SIGNALS255 (2.5%)11.4%prior 229
OPERATING VEHICLE IN ERRATIC, RECKLESS, CARELESS, NEGLIGENT OR AGGRESSIVE MANNER153 (1.5%)27.5%prior 120

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'CLEAR' weather conditions increased by 29.20% from 6725 to 8689, while crashes during 'RAIN' increased by 71.59% from 507 to 870. Similarly, crashes on 'DRY' road surfaces rose by 27.55% from 6523 to 8320, and those on 'WET' surfaces increased by 74.73% from 657 to 1148. Crashes occurring in 'DAYLIGHT' conditions increased by 33.45% from 5485 to 7320, while crashes in 'DARKNESS, LIGHTED ROAD' conditions increased by 41.78% from 1350 to 1914.

Weather

CLEAR8,689 (88.5%)
29.2%prior 6,725
RAIN870 (8.9%)
71.6%prior 507
CLOUDY/OVERCAST238 (2.4%)
122.4%prior 107
OTHER14 (0.1%)
7.7%prior 13
FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE5 (0.1%)
400.0%prior 1
FOG/SMOKE/HAZE2 (0.0%)
100.0%prior 1
SEVERE CROSS WIND GATE1 (0.0%)
0.0%prior 1
SNOW1 (0.0%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

DAYLIGHT7,320 (74.0%)
33.5%prior 5,485
DARKNESS, LIGHTED ROAD1,914 (19.4%)
41.8%prior 1,350
DARKNESS278 (2.8%)
5.7%prior 263
DUSK224 (2.3%)
-0.9%prior 226
DAWN154 (1.6%)
37.5%prior 112

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

DRY8,320 (87.6%)
27.5%prior 6,523
WET1,148 (12.1%)
74.7%prior 657
OTHER24 (0.3%)
60.0%prior 15
SAND, MUD, DIRT2 (0.0%)
100.0%prior 1
SNOW OR SLUSH1 (0.0%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 33.83% from 15828 to 21182 year-over-year. Among the top vehicle makes, Toyota saw a 43.78% increase in involvement, rising from 1375 to 1977, and Honda also increased by 43.78%, from 1021 to 1468. All age groups for persons involved in crashes experienced increases, with the 0-15 age group showing the largest percentage increase of 60.53%, from 527 to 846 individuals.

Top Vehicle Makes (21,182 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET2,569 (12.1%)
29.6%prior 1,983
2
FORD1,986 (9.4%)
26.7%prior 1,567
3
TOYOTA1,977 (9.3%)
43.8%prior 1,375
4
NISSAN1,774 (8.4%)
36.8%prior 1,297
5
HONDA1,468 (6.9%)
43.8%prior 1,021
6
JEEP912 (4.3%)
24.3%prior 734
7
HYUNDAI890 (4.2%)
38.2%prior 644
8
DODGE854 (4%)
17.8%prior 725
9
KIA552 (2.6%)
34.0%prior 412
10
VOLKSWAGEN433 (2%)
51.4%prior 286

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Vehicle unit records

7,099 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 (22,215 persons with recorded sex)

Male11,441 (51.5%)
31.1%prior 8,730
Female8,484 (38.2%)
39.7%prior 6,075
Non-Binary2,290 (10.3%)
35.6%prior 1,689

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The majority of crashes in both periods occurred in the 30 mph speed zone, which saw an increase of 35.07% in crash count, from 5612 to 7580. The fatal crash rate in the 30 mph zone decreased from 0.214% to 0.145%. Crashes in the 40 mph speed zone more than doubled, increasing by 112.5% from 56 to 119, and this zone also saw an increase from 0 to 2 fatalities, resulting in a fatal rate of 1.681% in June 2021.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 11 of 7,580 (0.145%) · 35 mph: 2 of 646 (0.31%) · 40 mph: 2 of 119 (1.681%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2021-06-01 to 2021-06-30 · 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: 2021-06-01 through 2021-06-30
  • Report generated: June 1, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2021-06-01 through 2021-06-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
  • Total crash records analyzed: 10,335
  • Total persons involved: 22,638
  • Total vehicles involved: 21,182

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/june-2021-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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Chicago, IL Year-over-Year Crash Report — June 2021 vs June 2020 | ThatCarHitMe.com