Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

577 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Jasper County recorded 577 total crashes, an 11.5% decrease from the 652 crashes reported in 2022. While overall collisions and injuries declined, the number of traffic fatalities more than doubled, increasing from 3 in the prior year to 7 in the current year. This rise in fatalities occurred despite the overall downward trend in crash frequency.

577

▼ -11.5%was 652

Total Crash Events

7

▲ 133.3%was 3

Persons Killed

176

▼ -13.3%was 203

Persons Injured

7

▲ 250.0%was 2

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (7) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (7) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic crashes in Jasper County showed a downward trend, decreasing by 11.5% from 652 in 2022 to 577 in 2023. This trend included a 13.3% drop in total injuries, from 203 to 176. However, this was contrasted by a significant rise in fatalities, which increased from 3 to 7 over the same period.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→%

6

Motorists Killed

Prior: 3↑100.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1→0.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 1→0.0%

172

Motorists Injured

Prior: 199↓-13.6%

2

Other Injured

Prior: 2→0.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year, with Friday being the peak day and 3 p.m. being the peak hour in both 2022 and 2023. However, crash volumes on Mondays and Tuesdays saw a notable decrease in 2023. Crashes on Mondays fell from 105 to 84, and on Tuesdays from 100 to 73.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes declined, the severity of crashes increased in 2023. The number of fatal crashes rose from 2 in 2022 to 7 in 2023, causing the fatal crash rate to increase from 0.31% to 1.21%. The share of crashes resulting in serious injuries also saw a slight increase from 2.9% to 3.5%, while the proportion of crashes involving minor injuries decreased from 12.7% to 10.1%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal7fatal crashes1.2%
↑250.0%prior 2
Serious Injury20serious injury crashes3.5%
↑5.3%prior 19
Minor Injury58minor injury crashes10.1%
↓-30.1%prior 83
Possible Injury65possible injury crashes11.3%
↓-1.5%prior 66
No Injury427no injury crashes74%
↓-11.4%prior 482

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Collisions with animals remained the leading contributing factor in both periods, with counts increasing slightly from 144 in 2022 to 152 in 2023. The ranking of other top factors shifted, notably with 'Driving too fast for conditions' falling from the second-leading cause with 54 crashes in 2022 to the fifth-leading cause with 28 crashes in 2023, a 48% decrease in count. Similarly, crashes attributed to 'Lost Control' decreased in count from 53 to 45.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal152 (26.3%)↑5.6%prior 144
Lost Control45 (7.8%)↓-15.1%prior 53
Ran off road - straight38 (6.6%)↓-11.6%prior 43
Followed too close32 (5.5%)↑10.3%prior 29
Driving too fast for conditions28 (4.9%)↓-48.1%prior 54
Ran off road - left26 (4.5%)↓-27.8%prior 36
Other (explain in narrative): Other24 (4.2%)↓-38.5%prior 39
FTYROW: From stop sign22 (3.8%)↑15.8%prior 19
Ran Stop Sign18 (3.1%)↓-10.0%prior 20
FTYROW: Making left turn16 (2.8%)↑6.7%prior 15

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring in adverse conditions decreased significantly in 2023 compared to 2022. Crashes on non-dry road surfaces (such as wet, ice, or snow) fell from 150 incidents in 2022 to 81 in 2023, a 46% reduction in count. Similarly, collisions during adverse weather like snow or rain dropped from 97 to 65. The share of crashes happening in daylight remained stable at approximately 51% for both years.

Weather

Clear333 (74.7%)
↓-10.2%prior 371
Cloudy46 (10.3%)
↓-29.2%prior 65
Snow24 (5.4%)
↓-42.9%prior 42
Rain20 (4.5%)
↓-23.1%prior 26
Fog, smoke, smog14 (3.1%)
↑180.0%prior 5
Freezing rain/drizzle3 (0.7%)
↓-57.1%prior 7
Other (explain in narrative)2 (0.4%)
↓-60.0%prior 5
Blowing Snow2 (0.4%)
↓-85.7%prior 14
Sleet, hail1 (0.2%)
Severe Winds1 (0.2%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight296 (66.2%)
↓-11.4%prior 334
Dark - roadway not lighted89 (19.9%)
↓-30.5%prior 128
Dark - roadway lighted27 (6.0%)
↓-32.5%prior 40
Dusk17 (3.8%)
↓-5.6%prior 18
Dawn10 (2.2%)
↓-23.1%prior 13
Dark - unknown roadway lighting8 (1.8%)
↑33.3%prior 6

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry354 (79.0%)
↓-5.1%prior 373
Wet35 (7.8%)
↓-34.0%prior 53
Ice/frost26 (5.8%)
↓-48.0%prior 50
Snow18 (4.0%)
↓-57.1%prior 42
Gravel10 (2.2%)
↓-9.1%prior 11
Mud, dirt3 (0.7%)
Slush2 (0.4%)
↓-60.0%prior 5

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes saw some shifts in ranking between the two years. While Ford vehicle involvements remained stable (149 in 2023 vs. 147 in 2022), Chevrolet-branded vehicles saw a combined decrease from 194 to 154. Examining the demographics of persons involved, the 35-44 age group saw its representation in crashes increase from 14.6% of all persons in 2022 to 17.9% in 2023. The share of other age groups, including the 16-20 and 65+ brackets, remained relatively consistent year-over-year.

Top Vehicle Makes (838 vehicles)

1
FORD149 (17.8%)
↑1.4%prior 147
2
CHEV110 (13.1%)
↓-25.2%prior 147
3
DODG48 (5.7%)
↑26.3%prior 38
4
CHEVROLET44 (5.3%)
↓-6.4%prior 47
5
JEEP39 (4.7%)
↑39.3%prior 28
6
HOND36 (4.3%)
↑50.0%prior 24
7
TOYT35 (4.2%)
↓-20.5%prior 44
8
GMC29 (3.5%)
↓-32.6%prior 43
9
NISS23 (2.7%)
↓-11.5%prior 26
10
RAM20 (2.4%)
↑42.9%prior 14

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (778 persons with recorded sex)

Male482 (62.0%)
↓-11.9%prior 547
Female296 (38.0%)
↓-14.2%prior 345

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · 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: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 577
  • Total persons involved: 1,193
  • Total vehicles involved: 838

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: 2023." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2023-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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