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Car Accidents

The State of Chicago & Illinois Road Safety

A plain-language annual summary of official Illinois and Chicago traffic-safety data, with every figure attributed to its public source.

By LawMachine

For journalists & researchers

Every figure on this page is drawn from official public sources — the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Chicago Vision Zero / CDOT reporting — and is attributed inline. This page is free to cite; please credit LawMachine with a link back. The most recent complete year of official data is 2023.

Illinois: statewide (2023)

1,240

Total traffic fatalities in Illinois (2023)

Source: IDOT

1,142

Fatal crashes statewide (2023)

Source: IDOT

299,133

Total motor-vehicle crashes statewide (2023)

Source: IDOT

87,573

People injured in crashes statewide (2023)

Source: IDOT

Chicago (2023)

186

Traffic deaths in Chicago (2023) — the highest annual total in a decade

Source: CDOT / reporting

158

Fatal crashes within Chicago (2023)

Source: IDOT

101,023

Total crashes within Chicago (2023)

Source: IDOT

What the numbers show

  • Illinois traffic deaths remain above pre-pandemic levels, with 1,240 lives lost statewide in 2023.
  • Chicago's 186 traffic deaths in 2023 were reported as the city's highest annual total in a decade.
  • The vast majority of crashes are non-fatal but still cause injury — statewide, tens of thousands of people are hurt on the roads each year.
  • The city concentrates its safety work on a High Crash Network, where fatal and serious-injury crashes cluster — the basis for our interactive corridor maps.

Explore our related maps & data

  • Interactive map: Chicago's official High Crash Corridors (Vision Zero).
  • Interactive map: Chicago's high bicycle-crash streets.
  • Interactive map: Chicago's high pedestrian-crash streets.
  • Chicago & Illinois car accident statistics hub.

Source & methodology

  • Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) — annual Illinois Crash Facts & Statistics (2023), the state's official crash dataset.
  • City of Chicago — Vision Zero Chicago / Chicago Department of Transportation reporting and the Chicago Data Portal Traffic Crashes dataset.
  • Figures reflect the most recent complete year of official data (2023). We update this page when the next official annual data is released.
  • We report only figures published by these official sources; we do not estimate, project, or interpolate numbers.

Always confirm against the primary IDOT and City of Chicago sources for the exact, most current figures.

Injured in a Chicago crash?

If you or a loved one was hurt in a traffic crash, call (312) 222-0202 for a free, no-obligation consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.

Car Accident Lawyers Near You

Local pages cover the county courts and public agencies that apply where you were hurt. See all locations.

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Related Resources

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