Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

296 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2021

All metrics benchmarked against2020

In Clay County, total traffic crashes increased by 5.3%, from 281 incidents in 2020 to 296 in 2021. Despite the rise in overall crash volume, the severity of these incidents decreased significantly. The most notable year-over-year shift was a 50% reduction in fatalities, which fell from 4 to 2, and a 21.2% decline in total injuries, from 99 to 78.

296

▲ 5.3%was 281

Total Crash Events

2

▼ -50.0%was 4

Persons Killed

78

▼ -21.2%was 99

Persons Injured

2

▼ -33.3%was 3

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (2) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (2) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, while the total number of crashes in Clay County saw a modest increase of 5.3% year-over-year, the outcomes were less severe. Fatalities were halved from 4 to 2, and the number of people injured dropped from 99 in 2020 to 78 in 2021. This indicates a positive trend in crash severity despite a higher number of total incidents.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 4↓-50.0%

2

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 2→0.0%

2

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 3↓-33.3%

74

Motorists Injured

Prior: 94↓-21.3%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes showed some shifts between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Wednesday (56 crashes) in 2020 to Thursday (49 crashes) in 2021. The peak time for crashes remained concentrated in the late afternoon commute, with 2021 seeing a three-way tie for the peak hour at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. (25 crashes each), similar to 2020's peak at 5 p.m. (23 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity decreased notably from 2020 to 2021. The fatal crash rate fell from 1.07% to 0.68% of all crashes. The proportion of crashes resulting in any form of injury also declined, dropping from 28.1% of all crashes in 2020 (79 injury crashes) to 21.3% in 2021 (63 injury crashes). This trend is further reflected in the absolute numbers, with total fatalities decreasing from 4 to 2 and total injuries falling from 99 to 78.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes0.7%
↓-33.3%prior 3
Serious Injury7serious injury crashes2.4%
↑16.7%prior 6
Minor Injury18minor injury crashes6.1%
↓-41.9%prior 31
Possible Injury38possible injury crashes12.8%
↓-9.5%prior 42
No Injury231no injury crashes78%
↑16.1%prior 199

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with collisions involving an animal being the top cause in both 2021 (62 crashes) and 2020 (64 crashes). However, a significant change was observed in crashes attributed to 'Followed too close,' which tripled in count from 7 incidents in 2020 to 21 in 2021. Crashes involving 'Lost Control' also increased from 9 to 15, while those related to 'Driving too fast for conditions' decreased from 13 to 8.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal62 (20.9%)↓-3.1%prior 64
Other (explain in narrative): Other25 (8.4%)↓-10.7%prior 28
FTYROW: From stop sign23 (7.8%)↓-8.0%prior 25
Followed too close21 (7.1%)↑200.0%prior 7
Lost Control15 (5.1%)↑66.7%prior 9
FTYROW: Making left turn14 (4.7%)↑27.3%prior 11
Ran off road - left13 (4.4%)→0.0%prior 13
Ran Stop Sign12 (4.1%)→0.0%prior 12
Ran off road - straight11 (3.7%)↑83.3%prior 6
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction10 (3.4%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Driving conditions at the time of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2021, a greater share of crashes occurred on dry roads (57.8%) compared to 2020 (52.7%), while the proportion of crashes on adverse surfaces like snow, ice, or wet pavement decreased from 22.1% to 18.9%. Conversely, the share of crashes happening in darkness increased from 13.9% in 2020 to 17.2% in 2021.

Weather

Clear175 (74.2%)
↑14.4%prior 153
Cloudy33 (14.0%)
↑6.5%prior 31
Rain13 (5.5%)
↑44.4%prior 9
Blowing Snow5 (2.1%)
Freezing rain/drizzle4 (1.7%)
↓-33.3%prior 6
Fog, smoke, smog3 (1.3%)
Snow3 (1.3%)
↓-72.7%prior 11

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight175 (72.9%)
↓-0.6%prior 176
Dark - roadway not lighted25 (10.4%)
↑4.2%prior 24
Dark - roadway lighted24 (10.0%)
↑71.4%prior 14
Dawn9 (3.8%)
Dusk5 (2.1%)
Dark - unknown roadway lighting2 (0.8%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry171 (71.8%)
↑15.5%prior 148
Ice/frost20 (8.4%)
↑5.3%prior 19
Wet19 (8.0%)
↓-9.5%prior 21
Snow12 (5.0%)
↓-42.9%prior 21
Gravel11 (4.6%)
↓-8.3%prior 12
Mud, dirt3 (1.3%)
Oil1 (0.4%)
Slush1 (0.4%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The most common vehicle makes involved in crashes, primarily Chevrolet and Ford, remained stable across both years. Analysis of the age of persons involved shows a demographic shift; compared to 2020, there was a decreased involvement of individuals in the 26-34 and 35-44 age brackets, which fell from 101 to 89 and 105 to 69, respectively. Concurrently, the number of persons in the 16-20 age group increased from 76 to 93, and the 65+ age group grew from 89 to 97.

Top Vehicle Makes (474 vehicles)

1
FORD88 (18.6%)
↑7.3%prior 82
2
CHEV72 (15.2%)
↑41.2%prior 51
3
CHEVROLET41 (8.6%)
↓-6.8%prior 44
4
GMC27 (5.7%)
↑28.6%prior 21
5
DODG24 (5.1%)
↓-7.7%prior 26
6
DODGE19 (4%)
↑5.6%prior 18
7
BUIC16 (3.4%)
→0.0%prior 16
8
CHRY16 (3.4%)
↑60.0%prior 10
9
JEEP16 (3.4%)
↓-11.1%prior 18
10
TOYOTA15 (3.2%)
↑36.4%prior 11

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

72 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (391 persons with recorded sex)

Male215 (55.0%)
↓-10.8%prior 241
Female176 (45.0%)
↑2.3%prior 172

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Iowa Crash Data, accessed programmatically via the ArcGIS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: ArcGIS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 296
  • Total persons involved: 604
  • Total vehicles involved: 474

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "iowa, IA Crash Intelligence Report: 2021." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2021-annual-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

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