Chicago, Illinois – Chicago recorded 9,079 car accidents in August 2026, the fewest in any August since 2022 and a 7.9 percent drop from the year before, according to a new analysis of City of Chicago crash data released by Briskman Briskman & Greenberg.

The decline ended three consecutive years of rising August crash totals. It also reached the most severe outcomes. Crashes causing at least one injury fell 10.4 percent to 1,655, and incapacitating injuries dropped 18.9 percent to 137, the lowest August count in the five year study period.

One number moved in the wrong direction. Fatal crashes rose from 7 to 8, the first August increase since 2023.

August reversed the pattern the firm documented one month earlier, when its July 2026 analysis found injuries and deaths climbing even as crash volume fell, with 1,705 people hurt and 10 fatalities, the worst injury totals of any July in four years.

“A month with fewer crashes and fewer serious injuries is genuinely good news for Chicago,” said Paul Greenberg, managing member and car accident attorney at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. “But eight families lost a loved one in August. Those families are the reason we cannot treat a good month as a finished job.”

The improvement came despite the wettest August in the five year record. Crashes on wet roads jumped 47.8 percent to 912, and crashes during active rain rose 37.3 percent. One in every ten August crashes happened on a wet surface. For the first time in the study period, police also listed weather as the primary cause of a meaningful number of crashes, citing it in 59 collisions after recording zero in every prior August.

The analysis surfaced two trends that cut against the overall decline. Motorcycle involvement rose 8.4 percent to 103, the highest August count in five years, while nearly every other vehicle category fell. And merging crashes have now climbed three years in a row, doubling from 105 in August 2023 to 212 in August 2026.

Timing patterns shifted as well. Sunday was the only day of the week where crashes increased, up 16.9 percent per day, while morning commute crashes collapsed, with the 7 AM hour falling 27 percent. The 3 PM hour remained the most dangerous of the day with 733 crashes.

“Rain, by itself, does not cause crashes. Driving too fast in the rain causes crashes,” Greenberg said. “Illinois law expects every driver to slow down for conditions. When someone slides into you on a wet road, the weather is not their defense, it is the evidence that they failed to adjust.”

The firm noted that injury crashes still accounted for 18.2 percent of all August crashes, near the five year peak of 18.7 percent and well above the 15.2 percent share recorded in 2022, meaning each individual crash remains nearly as likely to hurt someone as it was at the height of the trend.

The full August 2026 report, including hour by hour tables, five year injury charts, and a complete methodology, is available on the firm’s website, along with resources for anyone injured in a collision from its Chicago car accident lawyers.

The attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers have successfully represented individuals and families who have been injured or lost loved ones as a result of someone’s carelessness or a workplace accident. We have achieved success in thousands of cases, recovering millions of dollars in damages for our clients in a wide variety of cases, including personal injury, car accidents, wrongful death, medical malpractice, pharmacy errors, dog bite injuries, and work injuries. Get Briskman. Get Justice. Get Paid.

Briskman Briskman & Greenberg Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers
205 W Randolph St Suite 925 Chicago, IL 60606
1 (312) 313-2414
https://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/practice-areas/chicago-car-accident-lawyer/
Press Contact : Paul Greenberg

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