Chattanooga had 1,139 reported traffic crashes in October 2026, the most of any month in the city’s crash data, which begins in July 2024. That is 36.7 crashes a day; the previous high was 34.4 a day in April 2026. October 2025 had 1,015, so the rise is 12.2%. The jump stands out against the rest of the year: April-September 2026 had 5,670 crashes, 4.0% fewer than the same months of 2025 (5,909). Had October 2026 kept the same relationship to the preceding six months that October 2025 did, it would have had about 974 crashes. It had 165 more.

Crashes with at least one injury rose from 188 to 232 (+23%), also the most of any month in the data, and people injured from 252 to 311. Four people were killed, against three in October 2025, too few to compare. Hit-and-runs rose from 205 to 239, in line with the overall increase (21.0% of crashes against 20.2%).

The rise was broad. October 2026 had one more weekend day than October 2025, but crashes per day were up on both weekdays (35.7 to 40.0) and weekends (24.1 to 28.8). Crashes on dry pavement rose from 841 to 1,056, while crashes on wet pavement fell from 168 to 76. Morning rush hour (6-10 a.m.) was flat at 179 and 176. The increase came later in the day: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. went from 274 to 306, 3-7 p.m. from 347 to 386, 7 p.m.-midnight from 129 to 165 and midnight-6 a.m. from 86 to 106. Crashes in parking lots and on private property were unchanged (155 and 156); the rise was on public roads, where on-roadway crashes went from 744 to 813. The roads with the largest increases were Lee Highway (28 to 41), Highway 58 (14 to 24), East Brainerd Road (23 to 33), Shallowford Road (27 to 35) and Central Avenue (6 to 14). Together those five went from 98 to 147, about two-fifths of the increase, and the rest was spread across the city.

Crash records keep arriving after a month ends. October 2025 had 997 crashes with a report date by November 6, 2025 and has 1,015 now, so the October 2026 count may still rise a little. 54 October 2026 crashes are logged at exactly midnight, against 32 a year earlier, which may mark crashes with an unknown time. Leaving those out, the rise is 983 to 1,085 (+10.4%). The first three days of November 2026 show 79 crashes against 103 a year earlier, though early-November records are still coming in. The data does not say why crashes rose in October.