Crash data shows information about each traffic crash on city streets within the City of Chicago limits and under the jurisdiction of Chicago Police Department (CPD). Data are shown as is from the electronic crash reporting system (E-Crash) at CPD, excluding any personally identifiable information. Records are added to the data portal when a crash report is finalized or when amendments are made to an existing report in E-Crash. Data from E-Crash are available for some police districts in 2015, but citywide data are not available until September 2017. About half of all crash reports, mostly minor crashes, are self-reported at the police district by the driver(s) involved and the other half are recorded at the scene by the police officer responding to the crash. Many of the crash parameters, including street condition data, weather condition, and posted speed limits, are recorded by the reporting officer based on best available information at the time, but many of these may disagree with posted information or other assessments on road conditions. If any new or updated information on a crash is received, the reporting officer may amend the crash report at a later time. A traffic crash within the city limits for which CPD is not the responding police agency, typically crashes on interstate highways, freeway ramps, and on local roads along the City boundary, are excluded from this dataset.

All crashes are recorded as per the format specified in the Traffic Crash Report, SR1050, of the Illinois Department of Transportation. The crash data published on the Chicago data portal mostly follows the data elements in SR1050 form. The current version of the SR1050 instructions manual with detailed information on each data elements is available here.

As per Illinois statute, only crashes with a property damage value of $1,500 or more or involving bodily injury to any person(s) and that happen on a public roadway and that involve at least one moving vehicle, except bike dooring, are considered reportable crashes. However, CPD records every reported traffic crash event, regardless of the statute of limitations, and hence any formal Chicago crash dataset released by Illinois Department of Transportation may not include all the crashes listed here.

This dataset contains information about vehicles (or units as they are identified in crash reports) involved in a traffic crash. This dataset should be used in conjunction with the traffic Crash and People dataset available in the portal. “Vehicle” information includes motor vehicle and non-motor vehicle modes of transportation, such as bicycles and pedestrians. Each mode of transportation involved in a crash is a “unit” and get one entry here. Each vehicle, each pedestrian, each motorcyclist, and each bicyclist is considered an independent unit that can have a trajectory separate from the other units. However, people inside a vehicle including the driver do not have a trajectory separate from the vehicle in which they are travelling and hence only the vehicle they are travelling in get any entry here. This type of identification of “units” is needed to determine how each movement affected the crash. Data for occupants who do not make up an independent unit, typically drivers and passengers, are available in the People table. Many of the fields are coded to denote the type and location of damage on the vehicle. Vehicle information can be linked back to Crash data using the “CRASH_RECORD_ID” field. Since this dataset is a combination of vehicles, pedestrians, and pedal cyclists not all columns are applicable to each record. Look at the Unit Type field to determine what additional data may be available for that record.

The Chicago Police Department reports crashes on IL Traffic Crash Reporting form SR1050. The crash data published on the Chicago data portal mostly follows the data elements in SR1050 form. The current version of the SR1050 instructions manual with detailed information on each data elements is available here.

This data contains information about people involved in a crash and if any injuries were sustained. This dataset should be used in combination with the traffic Crash and Vehicle dataset. Each record corresponds to an occupant in a vehicle listed in the Crash dataset. Some people involved in a crash may not have been an occupant in a motor vehicle, but may have been a pedestrian, bicyclist, or using another non-motor vehicle mode of transportation. Injuries reported are reported by the responding police officer. Fatalities that occur after the initial reports are typically updated in these records up to 30 days after the date of the crash. Person data can be linked with the Crash and Vehicle dataset using the “CRASH_RECORD_ID” field. A vehicle can have multiple occupants and hence have a one to many relationship between Vehicle and Person dataset. However, a pedestrian is a “unit” by itself and have a one to one relationship between the Vehicle and Person table.

The Chicago Police Department reports crashes on IL Traffic Crash Reporting form SR1050. The crash data published on the Chicago data portal mostly follows the data elements in SR1050 form. The current version of the SR1050 instructions manual with detailed information on each data elements is available here.

Traffic fatalities within the City of Chicago that are included in Vision Zero Chicago (VZC) statistics. Vision Zero is Chicago’s commitment to eliminating fatalities and serious injuries from traffic crashes. The VZC Traffic Fatality List is compiled by the City’s multi-departmental Fatal Crash Response Coordination Committee (FCRCC) that reviews fatal traffic crashes provided by Chicago Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Unit (MAIU). The dataset is updated after the FCRCC meetings in the 4th week of the month. Thus, the fatality list for a particular month will be available in the dataset after the 4th week of the following month.

This committee uses a standardized process – sometimes differing from other sources and everyday use of the term -- to determine whether a death is a “traffic fatality” for VZC purposes. Therefore, the traffic fatalities included in this list may differ from the fatal crashes reported in the full Traffic Crashes dataset (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/85ca-t3if).

Official traffic crash data are published by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) on a yearly basis. The traffic fatality list determined on an ongoing basis through the year may differ from IDOT’s official crash data for Chicago as IDOT may define the cause and location differently from the FCRCC. Once IDOT publishes its data for a year, crashes in this dataset for that year are edited to match IDOT’s determinations, unless the FCRCC disagrees with the IDOT determination – which happens only rarely and usually due to an interpretation of one of the criteria below.

VZC Traffic Fatalities can be linked with other traffic crash datasets using the “RD_NO” or “Person_ID” fields.

The FCRCC defines a “traffic fatality” for the purpose of VZC statistics as "any death caused by a traffic crash, within 30 days of the crash” and “involves a motor vehicle.” Fatalities that meet the VZC definition of a traffic fatality are included in this dataset unless excluded by the criteria below. There may be records in this dataset that do not appear as fatalities in the other datasets.

The following criteria exclude a death from being considered a "traffic fatality" for VZC purposes:

1. The Medical Examiner determined that the primary cause of the fatality was not the traffic crash, including:

a. The fatality was reported as a suicide based on a police investigation.

b. The fatality was reported as a homicide in which the "party at fault" intentionally inflicted serious bodily harm that caused the victim's death.

c. The fatality was caused directly and exclusively by a medical condition or where the fatality was not attributable to road user movement on a public roadway. (Note: If a person driving suffers a medical emergency and consequently hit and kills another road user, the other road user is included although the driver suffering a medical emergency is excluded.)

2. The crash did not occur within the public right-of-way.

3. The crash involved a train or such mode of transport within their dedicated right-of-way.

4. The fatality was on a roadway not under Chicago Police Department jurisdiction, including:

a. The fatality was occurred on an expressway. The City of Chicago does not have oversight on the expressway system. However, a fatality on expressway ramps occurring within the City jurisdiction will be counted in Vision Zero Chicago Traffic Fatalities.

b. The fatality occurred outside City limits. Crashes on streets along the City boundary may be assigned to another jurisdiction after the investigation if it is determined that the crash started or substantially occurred on the side of the street that is outside the City limits. Jurisdiction of streets along the City boundary are split between City and neighboring jurisdictions along the street center line.

5. The fatality is not for a person (e.g., an animal).