Chicago Traffic Crash Vehicle Data with Unit-Level Details

Vehicle and unit-level data for traffic crashes reported by the Chicago Police Department. The dataset includes motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians as independent units, with fields for vehicle type, damage location, and hazardous materials. Data is collected via the Illinois Traffic Crash Report SR1050 form and is linked to crash and people datasets via a shared CRASH_RECORD_ID.

Use Cases

• Analyze crash severity and contributing factors using VEHICLE_TYPE, EXCEED_SPEED_LIMIT_I, and FIRE_I columns.
• Identify hazardous material incidents using HAZMAT_REPORT_I, HAZMAT_NAME, and HAZMAT_PLACARDS_I fields.
• Study commercial vehicle involvement in crashes using CMV_ID, MCS_OUT_OF_SERVICE_I, and LOAD_TYPE columns.
• Model vehicle damage patterns using AREA_XX_I columns that likely denote damage location codes.

Strengths

• Data is structured for linkage to related crash and people datasets via the CRASH_RECORD_ID field.
• Includes detailed coded fields for vehicle damage location and type, suggesting granular analysis potential.
• Covers multiple unit types including pedestrians and cyclists, providing a broader view of crash participants.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Since this dataset combines vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists, not all columns are applicable to each record, requiring careful filtering by UNIT_TYPE (implied from description).
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Chicago Police Department via data.cityofchicago.org.

Collection Method

Collected via Illinois Traffic Crash Reporting form SR1050.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-03 15:09:54; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Chicago, Illinois, USA.