Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about crash data

Traffic Deaths Down 7.5 Percent in Chicago While Rising Statewide

By Steven Vance | Jan 15, 2014 | 4 Comments

Update: IDOT updated their statistics today which now show that there were 124 fatal crashes in Chicago in 2013, not 120, as initially reported. This represents a decrease from 2012 of 7.5 percent. Electronic message signs over Illinois highways noting the number of traffic fatalities have been harbingers of depressing news since June 2012, but […]

Speeding Collisions “Much More Deadly Than Other Collisions”

By Steven Vance | Dec 20, 2013 | 14 Comments

Washington, DC, has the same “vision zero” goal to eliminate traffic deaths as Chicago. In this new public service announcement, DC police chief Cathy Lanier says, “High speed collisions are much more deadly than other collisions.” Exactly. When you compare the severity of injuries that pedestrians suffer in speeding-related crashes to non-speeding crashes, you see what […]

CDOT’s Two-Year Strategic Update Lacks Street Safety Data

By Steven Vance | Dec 16, 2013 | 37 Comments

The recently released update to the Chicago Department of Transportation’s first-ever two-year plan, the Chicago Forward Action Agenda, fails to give a status report on critical street safety metrics. The two-year update to Chicago Forward [PDF] does say a lot about what CDOT is doing to improve safety, but it doesn’t provide information on traffic crashes […]

The Missing Piece in Crash Reports: Ridership Data

By Steven Vance | Apr 24, 2013 | 16 Comments

This is the edited text of a speech I gave Monday night for the City of Chicago’s Earth Data Celebration about the use of data in measuring sustainability performance measures in Chicago. As deputy editor of Streetsblog Chicago, and co-editor of Grid Chicago before that, one question I field quite often from readers is, “How many […]

Help Make the Chicago Crash Browser an Even Better Tool for Change

By Steven Vance | Mar 21, 2013 | 4 Comments

I’m pleased to announce that the Chicago Crash Browser application is now open to the public. The tool, which I’ve been developing for almost two years, lets you look up the number of crashes where drivers struck pedestrians or cyclists at any location in Chicago. It includes crash data from 2005 to 2011. The purpose […]

To Prevent More Traffic Deaths, Chicago Needs Better Crash Data

By Steven Vance | Jan 23, 2013 | 13 Comments

On Monday the Chicago Sun-Times noted the large uptick in pedestrian fatalities in 2012 compared to the three years prior. Last year, 48 pedestrians were killed by drivers in Chicago, compared to 35 in 2009, 30 in 2010, and 31 in 2011. Understanding the underlying causes is difficult: Right now, there is troublingly little information from […]

Next South Shore Alderman Must Expand and Protect Existing Transit

By Steven Vance | Jan 22, 2013 | 3 Comments

A Metra Electric train crosses Yates Boulevard out of the South Shore station. Photo by Jeff Zoline. Applications are being accepted by Mayor Email until Friday, January 25 at 5 PM. Alderman Sandi Jackson of the 7th Ward, which includes South Shore, South Chicago, Rainbow Beach, and Jeffery Manor, resigned effective Tuesday. Mayor Emanuel has […]