Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

8,779 CRASHES IN
CHICAGO, IL
NOVEMBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstNovember 2022

In November 2023, Chicago recorded 8,779 total crashes, a slight decrease of 0.18% compared to the 8,795 crashes in November 2022. While total fatalities remained stable at 10, the most notable shift was a 9.49% increase in total injuries, rising from 1,770 in the prior year to 1,938 in the current period.

8,779

-0.2%was 8,795

Total Crash Events

10

Persons Killed

1,938

9.5%was 1,770

Persons Injured

2,776

-3.3%was 2,872

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (10) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (10) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 24 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash volume remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a minor decrease of 0.18% in total crashes. However, total injuries saw a significant increase of 9.49%, rising from 1,770 to 1,938. Total fatalities remained unchanged at 10 for both periods.

2,776

Hit-and-Run Crashes — November 2023

-3.3% vs prior (2,872)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 2,872 in November 2022 to 2,776 in November 2023, representing a reduction of 96 crashes. The hit-and-run rate also saw a decrease, falling from 32.7% to 31.6% of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 20.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

8

Motorists Killed

Prior: 80.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 00.0%

220

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 233-5.6%

100

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 8616.3%

1,612

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,44711.4%

6

Other Injured

Prior: 450.0%

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · 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 Tuesday in November 2022 (1,554 crashes) to Wednesday in November 2023 (1,585 crashes). Similarly, the peak hour for crashes moved from 3 PM in the prior year (673 crashes) to 5 PM in the current year (729 crashes). These shifts indicate changes in the temporal distribution of crash incidents.

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The fatal crash rate increased from 0.09% in November 2022 to 0.11% in November 2023, with the number of fatal crashes rising from 8 to 10. Serious injury crashes (severity 'A') decreased from 1.8% to 1.4% of total crashes, while possible injury crashes (severity 'C') increased from 4.1% to 5.6% of total crashes. The proportion of minor injury crashes (severity 'B') remained stable at 8.6% in both periods.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal10fatal crashes0.1%
25.0%prior 8
Serious Injury124serious injury crashes1.4%
-23.5%prior 162
Minor Injury758minor injury crashes8.6%
0.1%prior 757
Possible Injury493possible injury crashes5.6%
35.4%prior 364
No Injury7,370no injury crashes84%
-1.4%prior 7,471

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Failing to yield right-of-way remained the top contributing factor, increasing by 81 crashes from 975 to 1,056. Following too closely also saw an increase of 11 crashes, from 712 to 723. Conversely, 'Weather' as a contributing factor significantly decreased by 86 crashes, from 144 to 58, and 'Disregarding Traffic Signals' decreased by 32 crashes, from 191 to 159.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT-OF-WAY1,056 (12%)8.3%prior 975
FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY723 (8.2%)1.5%prior 712
IMPROPER OVERTAKING/PASSING466 (5.3%)8.4%prior 430
FAILING TO REDUCE SPEED TO AVOID CRASH349 (4%)3.3%prior 338
DRIVING SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE342 (3.9%)6.2%prior 322
IMPROPER TURNING/NO SIGNAL280 (3.2%)-9.4%prior 309
IMPROPER LANE USAGE273 (3.1%)9.6%prior 249
IMPROPER BACKING248 (2.8%)3.3%prior 240
DISREGARDING TRAFFIC SIGNALS159 (1.8%)-16.8%prior 191
OPERATING VEHICLE IN ERRATIC, RECKLESS, CARELESS, NEGLIGENT OR AGGRESSIVE MANNER133 (1.5%)15.7%prior 115

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased by 502, from 6,748 to 7,250. Concurrently, crashes during adverse weather conditions such as rain decreased by 214 (from 534 to 320) and snow decreased by 222 (from 365 to 143). Crashes on dry road surfaces increased by 435, from 6,383 to 6,818, while crashes on wet road surfaces decreased by 392, from 993 to 601.

Weather

CLEAR7,250 (90.5%)
7.4%prior 6,748
RAIN320 (4.0%)
-40.1%prior 534
CLOUDY/OVERCAST232 (2.9%)
5.9%prior 219
SNOW143 (1.8%)
-60.8%prior 365
OTHER31 (0.4%)
-31.1%prior 45
FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE20 (0.2%)
-69.2%prior 65
SLEET/HAIL6 (0.1%)
-64.7%prior 17
BLOWING SNOW5 (0.1%)
-70.6%prior 17
FOG/SMOKE/HAZE4 (0.0%)
-33.3%prior 6
SEVERE CROSS WIND GATE2 (0.0%)
-60.0%prior 5

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

DAYLIGHT4,715 (57.6%)
-2.0%prior 4,809
DARKNESS, LIGHTED ROAD2,431 (29.7%)
0.8%prior 2,411
DARKNESS598 (7.3%)
15.2%prior 519
DUSK285 (3.5%)
4.8%prior 272
DAWN151 (1.8%)
3.4%prior 146

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

DRY6,818 (90.1%)
6.8%prior 6,383
WET601 (7.9%)
-39.5%prior 993
SNOW OR SLUSH65 (0.9%)
-52.9%prior 138
ICE54 (0.7%)
-54.6%prior 119
OTHER29 (0.4%)
11.5%prior 26
SAND, MUD, DIRT2 (0.0%)
0.0%prior 2

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Toyota became the top vehicle make involved in crashes, increasing its count from 1,921 to 2,098, while Chevrolet moved to second place, increasing from 1,945 to 1,989. Ford remained the third most involved make, with a slight decrease from 1,735 to 1,732. Among persons involved, the 21-25 age group saw an increase of 46 persons, from 1,553 to 1,599, and the 26-34 age group increased by 49 persons, from 3,005 to 3,054.

Top Vehicle Makes (17,961 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA2,098 (11.7%)
9.2%prior 1,921
2
CHEVROLET1,989 (11.1%)
2.3%prior 1,945
3
FORD1,732 (9.6%)
-0.2%prior 1,735
4
HONDA1,381 (7.7%)
-0.1%prior 1,382
5
NISSAN1,334 (7.4%)
-3.4%prior 1,381
6
JEEP790 (4.4%)
-4.9%prior 831
7
HYUNDAI770 (4.3%)
-6.1%prior 820
8
DODGE645 (3.6%)
-10.0%prior 717
9
KIA516 (2.9%)
-8.5%prior 564
10
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION (GMC)366 (2%)
17.3%prior 312

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Vehicle unit records

5,901 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 (18,722 persons with recorded sex)

Male9,918 (53.0%)
4.9%prior 9,451
Female6,996 (37.4%)
-0.9%prior 7,057
Non-Binary1,808 (9.7%)
-8.5%prior 1,975

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

The 30 mph speed zone continued to account for the majority of crashes, with 6,484 crashes in November 2023 compared to 6,466 in November 2022. Fatal crashes in the 30 mph zone increased from 7 to 9, with the fatal rate rising from 0.108% to 0.139%. Additionally, the 25 mph speed zone recorded 1 fatal crash in the current period, compared to none in the prior period, out of 597 crashes.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 597 (0.168%) · 30 mph: 9 of 6,484 (0.139%)

Source: Chicago Traffic Crashes · Socrata Open Data · 2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · 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: 2023-11-01 through 2023-11-30
  • Report generated: June 1, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-11-01 through 2023-11-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: Chicago, IL
  • Total crash records analyzed: 8,779
  • Total persons involved: 19,158
  • Total vehicles involved: 17,961

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-2023-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 2023 vs November 2022 | ThatCarHitMe.com