As someone who lives in or has traveled through Chicago, you likely don’t need any reminding of how congested our city’s roadways are. This heavy traffic often leads to collisions, which cause motorists to suffer serious injuries and lose their lives.
While you’re likely aware of where some of our city’s crash-prone roadways are if you live here, you may only know where they are in your neighborhood or along your route, knowledge that doesn’t help you much if you venture into a new area in the Windy City or are an out-of-towner traveling into our city.
Below, we’ll highlight where car accidents happen most often in Chicago.
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Roadways That See the Most Auto Accidents in Chicago
Data available through the Chicago Data Portal includes up-to-date reports of car crashes reported from across our city. Some of the roadways where accidents appear to be most prevalent include along:
- Lake Shore Drive
- Michigan Avenue
- Roosevelt Road
- McCormick Boulevard
- Chicago Avenue
- Wacker Drive
Many of the above-referenced roads see too high speeds for the amount of traffic that travels down them, thus leading to wrecks.
Are Some Chicago Intersections More Dangerous Than Others?
The same data portal referenced above suggests these crossroads, in particular, see the most intersection accidents in Chicago:
- Wacker Drive at Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive
- Wentworth Avenue and Garfield Boulevard
- Sheffield Avenue and Armitage Avenue
- Stony Island Avenue at 79th Street and 95th Street
- Dearborn Street and Randolph Street
Crashes often occur at the above-referenced intersections because of heavy traffic congestion and ineffective traffic light patterns.
Chicago Highways and Interstates with the Most Traffic and Crashes
A news story shared by NBC News 5 in 2021 highlighted how Chicago ranked third in the nation for the most congested roadways. Data published by the research firm INRIX for 2022 shows that Chicago now ranks number one in the U.S. for the most heavily trafficked roads.
The following highways and interstates or their feeder roadways are the most heavily congested and, thus, in our experience, are likely to see crashes:
- Eisenhower Expressway
- I-290 between Sacramento Boulevard and Pulaski Road
- Edens Expressway, which feeds into I-94/I-90
- US 53
- East Congress Parkway
- I-90/I-94, particularly between West Division Street and Claybourn and exit 55A (Pershing Road) through 59C (Chicago Skyway/Dan Ryan Expressway)
- 1-80 from IL 83 to US 41 (North Lakeshore Drive)
- IL 390
- I-294 from Irving Park Road to O’Hare Way
Types of Car Wrecks on the Rise in Chicago
A review of news recent local news stories regarding car crashes highlights some concerning trends, including:
- Wrong-way accidents are on the rise in Chicago and Illinois at large, according to CBS 2 News. They reached 376 in 2021 and most commonly occur along DuSable Lake Shore Drive, South Pulaski Road, and I-57.
- Deer-involved car crashes are increasing in many parts of our state, per NBC 5 Chicago. At least 14,500 of these accidents occurred here in 2021. One DuPage County ecologist noted that deer are most likely to cross even busy roadways at dusk or dawn between October and December. Multi-car accidents can occur if a motorist attempts to steer out of the way to avoid colliding with a deer or when a motorist can get rear-ended if another driver ahead suddenly applies their brakes or stops after striking an animal.
- Collisions between car drivers and bicycles, especially fatal ones, are becoming increasingly common in our city, according to the nonprofit news agency Block Club Chicago. Their research shows that, especially along Milwaukee Avenue, there were 50 crashes and three fatalities from 2020 through late 2022 alone.
While this list certainly doesn’t include all types of car crashes that occur in Chicago, it does give you insight into particular types that are on the rise that you need to be mindful of when navigating our streets.
Dangers Associated with Being in a Chicago Car Accident
A review of records contained in the Chicago Data Portal shows that in 2022, there were around 22,085 crashes that either left motorists, bicyclists, or pedestrians injured or caused their deaths. Of those victims, the following is true:
- 6,913 didn’t suffer visible injuries, yet they complained of mobility issues or pain
- 2,286 suffered injuries that were serious enough that they had to be transported from the crash scene by ambulance
- 158 sustained fatal injuries
What To Do If a Car Crash in Chicago Injured You or a Family Member
It’s important to seek medical attention after any crash, even if you think you haven’t suffered any injuries. Doing so ensures you don’t have a life-threatening condition that has yet to manifest symptoms.
If you find that you’ve suffered serious injuries that are likely to cause you to incur significant bills, you should consider consulting with a car accident attorney.
Why?
While you can certainly file a claim on your own if you had an accident in one of the areas where car accidents most commonly occur in Chicago, dealing with insurance adjusters can be dicey. You run the risk of them denying your claim if you make any missteps in your case.
When you get a lawyer involved, they advise you on what to say and communicate with an insurance company on your behalf.
All of this can help preserve your right to compensation.
Meeting with a member of our legal team at Thomas Law Offices to discuss your case is free, and we don’t charge you anything to represent you unless we collect a settlement on your behalf.
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