ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
CRASH INTELLIGENCE REPORT · CHICAGO, IL · MAY 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/may-2016-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
3,091 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
MAY 2016
During May 2016, Chicago recorded 3091 traffic crashes, resulting in 3 fatalities and 261 injuries. A significant majority, 93.9%, of these crashes resulted in no reported injuries.
3,091
Total Crash Events
3
Persons Killed
261
Persons Injured
26.4%
Hit-and-Run Rate
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. 3 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
815
Hit-and-Run Crashes — May 2016
There were 815 hit-and-run crashes reported in May 2016, accounting for 26.4% of all crashes. It is important to note that hit-and-run status is based on the responding officer's initial determination.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
Motorists accounted for all 3 fatalities and 235 injuries. Pedestrians sustained 18 injuries, with no pedestrian fatalities reported. Cyclists experienced 8 injuries, and no cyclist fatalities were recorded.
0
Pedestrians Killed
0
Cyclists Killed
3
Motorists Killed
18
Pedestrians Injured
8
Cyclists Injured
235
Motorists Injured
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
Crashes in May 2016 most frequently occurred on Tuesdays, with 535 incidents. The peak hour for crashes was 3 p.m., recording 264 incidents. Crash frequency was notably higher during daytime and afternoon hours, with early morning hours showing significantly fewer incidents.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Crash Severity Breakdown
Of the 3091 crashes, 2902 (93.9%) resulted in no injuries. Crashes involving any level of injury (Fatal, Serious, Minor, Possible) totaled 186, representing 6.0% of all crashes. There were 3 fatal crashes, which led to 3 total fatalities.
Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · KABCO injury classification scale
Severity Distribution
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Most severe injury per crash record
Top Contributing Factors
The most frequently cited contributing factors to crashes were 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY' (414 crashes, 13.4%), 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' (282 crashes, 9.1%), and 'DRIVING SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE' (194 crashes, 6.3%). These three factors collectively represent a substantial portion of reported crash causes.
Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash
Road & Environmental Conditions
The majority of crashes occurred under clear weather (2453 crashes, 79.4%), on dry road surfaces (2444 crashes, 79.1%), and during daylight hours (2283 crashes, 73.9%). Adverse conditions such as rain (307 crashes), wet roads (387 crashes), and darkness with lighted roads (441 crashes) were also present in a notable number of incidents.
Weather
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Lighting condition field
Road Surface
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Road surface condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The age group 26-34 years was most represented among persons involved in crashes, with 1019 individuals, followed by the 35-44 age group with 836 individuals. The most frequently involved vehicle makes were CHEVROLET (772 vehicles), TOYOTA MOTOR COMPANY, LTD. (742 vehicles), and FORD (616 vehicles).
Top Vehicle Makes (6,201 vehicles)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Vehicle unit records
2,310 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 (6,770 persons with recorded sex)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
The 30 mph speed limit zone recorded the highest number of crashes, with 2181 incidents, accounting for 70.6% of all crashes. Within the 30 mph zone, 0.046% of crashes were fatal. The 20 mph zone had the highest fatal percentage, with 0.917% of crashes in that zone resulting in a fatality.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 109 (0.917%) · 30 mph: 1 of 2,181 (0.046%) · 35 mph: 1 of 229 (0.437%)
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Crashes by District
District 08 recorded the highest number of crashes, with 302 incidents, representing 9.8% of all crashes. Other districts with high crash concentrations included District 03 (300 crashes), District 18 (299 crashes), and District 01 (272 crashes).
Crashes by District
"Other" combines 15 smaller categories (1,400 records): District 06 (141), District 11 (141), District 15 (134), District 09 (117), District 17 (109), District 04 (95), District 22 (94), District 20 (93), District 25 (84), District 02 (84), District 14 (83), District 19 (68), District 05 (64), District 07 (50), District 16 (43).
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Person-level records
First Crash Type
The dominant first crash type was 'REAR END' with 889 incidents, accounting for 28.8% of all crashes. Other common crash types included 'PARKED MOTOR VEHICLE' with 675 incidents and 'SIDESWIPE SAME DIRECTION' with 621 incidents.
First Crash Type
Showing top 9 of 14 reported. 5 additional (54 total) not shown: OTHER OBJECT, PEDALCYCLIST, OTHER NONCOLLISION, ANIMAL, OVERTURNED.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Person-level records
Point of Impact
Among all recorded points of impact, the 'FRONT' was the most frequent area, accounting for 1186 impacts or 21.1% of the total. The 'REAR' was the second most common impact area with 1001 instances (17.8%), followed by 'FRONT-LEFT' with 753 instances (13.4%).
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 5 smaller categories (414 records): REAR-RIGHT (339), OTHER (32), TOTAL (ALL AREAS) (30), UNDER CARRIAGE (12), ROOF (1).
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Person-level records
Pre-Crash Driver Action
Prior to crashes, the most common driver actions were 'STRAIGHT AHEAD' (2699 actions, 49.6% of known actions), 'PARKED' (694 actions, 12.7%), and 'SLOW/STOP IN TRAFFIC' (634 actions, 11.6%). These three actions represent the majority of recorded pre-crash maneuvers.
Pre-Crash Driver Action
Showing top 9 of 27 reported. 18 additional (478 total) not shown: OTHER, ENTERING TRAFFIC LANE FROM PARKING, STARTING IN TRAFFIC, MERGING, U-TURN, SLOW/STOP - LEFT TURN, LEAVING TRAFFIC LANE TO PARK, ENTER FROM DRIVE/ALLEY, SLOW/STOP - RIGHT TURN, SLOW/STOP - LOAD/UNLOAD, PARKED IN TRAFFIC LANE, NEGOTIATING A CURVE, AVOIDING VEHICLES/OBJECTS, SKIDDING/CONTROL LOSS, DRIVING WRONG WAY, TURNING ON RED, DRIVERLESS, DIVERGING.
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · Person-level records
Pedestrian/Cyclist Action
The most frequent pedestrian actions observed at the time of impact were 'WITH TRAFFIC' (10 instances), 'NO ACTION' (7 instances), and 'OTHER ACTION' (5 instances). These categories represent the primary recorded behaviors for pedestrians involved in crashes.
Pedestrian/Cyclist Action
Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2016-05-01 to 2016-05-31 · 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: 2016-05-01 through 2016-05-31
- Report generated: June 1, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2016-05-01 through 2016-05-31 (31 days)
- Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
- Total crash records analyzed: 3,091
- Total persons involved: 6,851
- Total vehicles involved: 6,201
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/may-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: 2016-05-01 – 2016-05-31
Generated: June 1, 2026 · All rights reserved