Traffic Crash Person Records for Chicago

Person-level records from traffic crashes in Chicago, reported by the Chicago Police Department. The data details individuals involved, including vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and bicyclists, with injury information reported by police. Records can be linked to associated crash and vehicle data using a common identifier.

Use Cases

• Analyze injury severity patterns across different person types, such as pedestrians versus vehicle occupants.
• Link person records to crash and vehicle datasets using the CRASH_RECORD_ID field for multi-table analysis of accident factors.
• Study the relationship between reported injuries and the mode of transportation (e.g., bicyclist, pedestrian) involved in a crash.

Strengths

• Data is maintained and updated by the City of Chicago, an authoritative municipal source.
• Records include non-motorist individuals like pedestrians and bicyclists, providing a complete view of crash involvement.
• Explicit linkage capability to related crash and vehicle datasets via the CRASH_RECORD_ID field.

Limitations

• Injury data is based on initial police reports and may not capture fatalities occurring up to 30 days post-crash.
• A key identifier (RD_NO) was removed for privacy, which may limit linking to some external police records.
• The dataset must be used in combination with separate crash and vehicle tables for full context, requiring data joining.

Provenance

Source

Chicago Police Department via the City of Chicago data portal.

Collection Method

Reported by police on the Illinois Traffic Crash Reporting form SR1050.

Freshness

Last updated March 22, 2026.

Geography

Chicago, Illinois, USA.