Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

6,964 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
NOVEMBER 2020

All metrics benchmarked againstNovember 2019

In November 2020, Chicago experienced 6964 total crashes, a notable decrease from the 9640 crashes recorded in November 2019, representing a 27.76% reduction. Total fatalities saw the most significant year-over-year shift, decreasing by 53.85% from 13 fatalities in November 2019 to 6 fatalities in November 2020.

6,964

▼ -27.8%was 9,640

Total Crash Events

6

▼ -53.8%was 13

Persons Killed

1,479

▼ -20.4%was 1,857

Persons Injured

2,391

▼ -3.0%was 2,466

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (6) 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. 18 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash data for November 2020 shows a clear downward trend compared to November 2019. Total crashes decreased by 27.76%, while total fatalities dropped by 53.85% and total injuries by 20.35%, indicating a general improvement in traffic safety outcomes.

2,391

Hit-and-Run Crashes — November 2020

▼ -3.0% vs prior (2,466)

The number of hit-and-run crashes slightly decreased by 75 incidents, from 2466 in November 2019 to 2391 in November 2020. However, the hit-and-run rate significantly increased from 25.6% of total crashes in November 2019 to 34.3% in November 2020, indicating that a larger proportion of the fewer overall crashes involved a hit-and-run.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

3

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 6↓-50.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 2↓-100.0%

3

Motorists Killed

Prior: 5↓-40.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

146

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 293↓-50.2%

54

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 67↓-19.4%

1,278

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,496↓-14.6%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 1→0.0%

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Friday in November 2019 (1691 crashes) to Monday in November 2020 (1052 crashes). Similarly, the peak crash hour moved from 5 PM (771 crashes) in November 2019 to 3 PM (542 crashes) in November 2020, suggesting a change in the timing of peak crash activity.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The fatal crash rate slightly decreased from 0.1% of total crashes in November 2019 to 0.09% in November 2020. While the total number of injuries decreased by 378, the proportion of crashes involving any injury (Serious, Minor, Possible) slightly increased from 13.95% in November 2019 to 14.92% in November 2020.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal6fatal crashes0.1%
↓-40.0%prior 10
Serious Injury139serious injury crashes2%
↓-12.0%prior 158
Minor Injury609minor injury crashes8.7%
↓-18.7%prior 749
Possible Injury291possible injury crashes4.2%
↓-33.6%prior 438
No Injury5,901no injury crashes84.7%
↓-28.6%prior 8,263

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top contributing factors remained consistent in their ranking, but all saw a decrease in count. 'FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY' decreased by 335 crashes (-32.81%), and 'FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY' decreased by 383 crashes (-38.80%). 'IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING' saw a decrease of 183 crashes (-39.10%), while 'IMPROPER BACKING' decreased by 177 crashes (-43.17%) and dropped from 5th to 6th rank.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY686 (9.9%)↓-32.8%prior 1,021
FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY604 (8.7%)↓-38.8%prior 987
FAILING TO REDUCE SPEED TO AVOID CRASH356 (5.1%)↓-25.5%prior 478
IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING285 (4.1%)↓-39.1%prior 468
IMPROPER LANE USAGE240 (3.4%)↓-35.8%prior 374
IMPROPER BACKING233 (3.3%)↓-43.2%prior 410
IMPROPER TURNING/NO SIGNAL207 (3%)↓-38.6%prior 337
DRIVING SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE203 (2.9%)↓-16.1%prior 242
DISREGARDING TRAFFIC SIGNALS195 (2.8%)↑30.0%prior 150
OPERATING VEHICLE IN ERRATIC, RECKLESS, CARELESS, NEGLIGENT OR AGGRESSIVE MANNER117 (1.7%)↑8.3%prior 108

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in adverse weather conditions (rain or snow) decreased from 1377 in November 2019 to 784 in November 2020. The proportion of crashes on adverse road surfaces (wet, snow/slush, or ice) also significantly decreased from 24.76% in November 2019 to 13.61% in November 2020.

Weather

CLEAR5,710 (85.6%)
↓-22.3%prior 7,350
RAIN759 (11.4%)
↓-15.4%prior 897
CLOUDY/OVERCAST126 (1.9%)
↓-65.0%prior 360
SNOW25 (0.4%)
↓-94.8%prior 480
OTHER20 (0.3%)
↓-74.4%prior 78
FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE17 (0.3%)
↓-52.8%prior 36
SEVERE CROSS WIND GATE4 (0.1%)
↓-42.9%prior 7
FOG/SMOKE/HAZE4 (0.1%)
↓-42.9%prior 7
SLEET/HAIL2 (0.0%)
↓-87.5%prior 16

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

DAYLIGHT3,748 (56.0%)
↓-27.3%prior 5,153
DARKNESS, LIGHTED ROAD2,088 (31.2%)
↓-26.9%prior 2,856
DARKNESS468 (7.0%)
↓-36.4%prior 736
DUSK260 (3.9%)
↓-28.8%prior 365
DAWN133 (2.0%)
↓-29.3%prior 188

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

DRY5,562 (85.2%)
↓-15.4%prior 6,571
WET929 (14.2%)
↓-35.9%prior 1,449
SNOW OR SLUSH16 (0.2%)
↓-96.1%prior 408
OTHER14 (0.2%)
↓-17.6%prior 17
SAND, MUD, DIRT3 (0.0%)
→0.0%prior 3
ICE3 (0.0%)
↓-99.4%prior 530

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes decreased by 27.83%, from 19815 to 14301. Toyota, which was the top vehicle make in November 2019, dropped to third place in November 2020, experiencing a 36.77% decrease in involvement. The 0-15 age group saw the largest percentage decrease in persons involved in crashes, with a 47.35% reduction from 718 to 378, while the decrease in Non-Binary persons involved was 8.57%, significantly less than the 32.33% for Male and 34.50% for Female.

Top Vehicle Makes (14,301 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET1,678 (11.7%)
↓-21.9%prior 2,148
2
FORD1,415 (9.9%)
↓-25.6%prior 1,902
3
TOYOTA1,376 (9.6%)
4
NISSAN1,195 (8.4%)
↓-26.1%prior 1,617
5
HONDA981 (6.9%)
↓-35.8%prior 1,529
6
JEEP638 (4.5%)
↓-23.6%prior 835
7
DODGE631 (4.4%)
↓-25.9%prior 851
8
HYUNDAI568 (4%)
↓-34.0%prior 860
9
KIA416 (2.9%)
10
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION (GMC)273 (1.9%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Vehicle unit records

4,410 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 (14,543 persons with recorded sex)

Male7,639 (52.5%)
↓-32.3%prior 11,289
Female5,347 (36.8%)
↓-34.5%prior 8,164
Non-Binary1,557 (10.7%)
↓-8.6%prior 1,703

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The 30 mph speed zone continued to account for the highest number of crashes in both periods, though its crash count decreased from 7106 to 5055. The fatal crash rate in the 30 mph zone slightly increased from 0.113% in November 2019 to 0.119% in November 2020. No fatal crashes were recorded in the 25 mph and 40 mph zones in November 2020, compared to one fatal crash in each zone in November 2019.

Fatal crashes by zone: 30 mph: 6 of 5,055 (0.119%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2020-11-01 to 2020-11-30 · 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: 2020-11-01 through 2020-11-30
  • Report generated: June 1, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2020-11-01 through 2020-11-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
  • Total crash records analyzed: 6,964
  • Total persons involved: 14,747
  • Total vehicles involved: 14,301

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/november-2020-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 — November 2020 vs November 2019 | ThatCarHitMe.com