ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
CRASH INTELLIGENCE REPORT · CHICAGO, IL · MARCH 2016
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/march-2016-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
2,916 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
MARCH 2016
During March 2016, Chicago recorded 2916 crashes, resulting in 1 fatality and 262 injuries. A notable finding is that 749 crashes, or 25.7% of the total, involved a hit-and-run.
2,916
Total Crash Events
1
Persons Killed
262
Persons Injured
25.7%
Hit-and-Run Rate
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. 2 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
749
Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2016
In March 2016, 749 crashes, or 25.7% of all crashes, were identified as hit-and-run incidents. This determination is based on the initial assessment by the responding officer at the scene.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
During March 2016, 1 motorist fatality was recorded, alongside 232 motorists injured. Pedestrians experienced 24 injuries, and cyclists sustained 6 injuries, with no fatalities reported for either group.
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
1
Motorists Killed
24
Pedestrians Injured
6
Cyclists Injured
232
Motorists Injured
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
Crashes in March 2016 peaked on Thursday with 489 incidents, and the busiest hour for crashes was 3 PM with 265 incidents. The data indicates a clear pattern of higher crash frequency during daytime and evening rush hours, from 7 AM to 7 PM, compared to significantly lower numbers in early morning hours.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
The majority of crashes in March 2016, 93.5%, resulted in no reported injuries. Injury crashes (serious, minor, possible) accounted for 6.4% of incidents. There was 1 fatal crash recorded, resulting in 1 fatality during this period.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The most frequently cited contributing factor in crashes was 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY', involved in 375 incidents, representing 12.9% of crashes. 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' was the second most common factor, present in 276 crashes, or 9.5%.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
The majority of crashes occurred under favorable conditions, with 75.5% happening in clear weather, 72.3% on dry road surfaces, and 68% during daylight hours. However, adverse conditions also contributed to crashes, with 270 incidents in rain and 362 on wet roads.
Weather
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Among persons involved in crashes, the 26-34 age group was most represented with 986 individuals, followed by the 35-44 age group with 849 individuals. The most frequently involved vehicle make was Chevrolet with 747 incidents, closely followed by Toyota Motor Company, Ltd. with 691 incidents.
Top Vehicle Makes (5,859 vehicles)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,156 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 (6,314 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The 30 mph speed limit zone recorded the highest number of crashes, accounting for 2086 incidents or 71.5% of all crashes. Within this specific speed zone, 0.048% of crashes were fatal. Other speed zones had lower crash counts and no recorded fatalities during this period.
Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 1 of 2,086 (0.048%)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Crashes by District
Police District 03 recorded the highest number of crashes with 293 incidents, representing 10.05% of all crashes. District 08 and District 01 also showed significant crash concentrations, with 273 and 249 incidents respectively.
Crashes by District
"Other" combines 15 smaller categories (1,365 records): District 11 (131), District 24 (124), District 17 (113), District 09 (112), District 15 (107), District 14 (105), District 16 (92), District 04 (91), District 25 (89), District 22 (87), District 02 (83), District 05 (64), District 20 (63), District 19 (57), District 07 (47).
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records
First Crash Type
The most common first crash type was 'REAR END' collisions, accounting for 840 incidents or 28.8% of all crashes. Collisions with 'PARKED MOTOR VEHICLE' were also frequent, with 633 occurrences. Additionally, there were 36 pedestrian crashes and 12 pedalcyclist crashes.
First Crash Type
Showing top 9 of 13 reported. 4 additional (38 total) not shown: OTHER OBJECT, PEDALCYCLIST, OTHER NONCOLLISION, ANIMAL.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records
Point of Impact
The most frequent point of impact on vehicles was the front, recorded in 1259 incidents. The rear of vehicles was impacted in 994 incidents, while front-right and front-left impacts occurred in 709 and 688 incidents respectively.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 5 smaller categories (358 records): REAR-RIGHT (311), OTHER (19), TOTAL (ALL AREAS) (14), UNDER CARRIAGE (8), ROOF (6).
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records
Pre-Crash Driver Action
The most common pre-crash action was 'STRAIGHT AHEAD', observed in 2451 instances, representing 41.7% of reported actions excluding unknown values. 'PARKED' and 'SLOW/STOP IN TRAFFIC' were the next most frequent actions, with 658 and 646 occurrences respectively.
Pre-Crash Driver Action
Showing top 9 of 26 reported. 17 additional (495 total) not shown: ENTERING TRAFFIC LANE FROM PARKING, OTHER, STARTING IN TRAFFIC, ENTER FROM DRIVE/ALLEY, SLOW/STOP - LEFT TURN, U-TURN, MERGING, LEAVING TRAFFIC LANE TO PARK, SLOW/STOP - RIGHT TURN, SLOW/STOP - LOAD/UNLOAD, AVOIDING VEHICLES/OBJECTS, SKIDDING/CONTROL LOSS, NEGOTIATING A CURVE, PARKED IN TRAFFIC LANE, TURNING ON RED, DRIVING WRONG WAY, DRIVERLESS.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records
Pedestrian/Cyclist Action
Among reported pedestrian actions, 'CROSSING - WITH SIGNAL' was the most frequent, recorded in 13 instances. 'WITH TRAFFIC' was observed in 11 instances, and 'OTHER ACTION' in 7 instances.
Pedestrian/Cyclist Action
Showing top 9 of 10 reported. 1 additional (1 total) not shown: TURNING RIGHT.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-03-01 to 2016-03-31 · Person-level records
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: 2016-03-01 through 2016-03-31
- Report generated: June 1, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2016-03-01 through 2016-03-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
- Total crash records analyzed: 2,916
- Total persons involved: 6,414
- Total vehicles involved: 5,859
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/march-2016-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: 2016-03-01 – 2016-03-31
Generated: June 1, 2026 · All rights reserved