Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

3,106 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Linn County recorded 3,106 total crashes, a slight decrease from the 3,146 crashes reported in 2023, representing a 1.3% year-over-year reduction in total collisions. The most significant change was a 33.3% decrease in traffic fatalities, which fell from 27 in 2023 to 18 in 2024. Overall trends show a general, though modest, improvement in traffic safety metrics across the county.

3,106

▼ -1.3%was 3,146

Total Crash Events

18

▼ -33.3%was 27

Persons Killed

938

▼ -3.9%was 976

Persons Injured

16

▼ -27.3%was 22

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (18) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (16) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, Linn County experienced a slight downward trend in traffic incidents in 2024 compared to the previous year. Total crashes decreased by 1.3%, from 3,146 to 3,106. This trend was accompanied by a 3.9% drop in total injuries from 976 to 938, and a more substantial 33.3% reduction in fatalities from 27 to 18.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 3↓-33.3%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

16

Motorists Killed

Prior: 24↓-33.3%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

22

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 18↑22.2%

20

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 18↑11.1%

893

Motorists Injured

Prior: 935↓-4.5%

3

Other Injured

Prior: 5↓-40.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes in Linn County remained largely consistent year-over-year. Friday was the peak day for crashes in both periods, with 555 incidents in 2024 compared to 554 in 2023. Similarly, the 3 p.m. hour remained the peak time for collisions, with counts of 295 in 2024 and 282 in 2023. One notable shift was an increase in crashes on Mondays, which rose from 434 in 2023 to 504 in 2024.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes in Linn County shifted slightly in 2024. The proportion of fatal crashes decreased from 0.7% of all crashes in 2023 to 0.5% in 2024, with the number of fatal incidents falling from 22 to 16. While the share of minor injury crashes declined from 9.8% to 9.3%, the proportion of serious injury crashes increased from 1.3% (41 incidents) to 1.5% (47 incidents). Crashes resulting in no injuries remained the largest category, comprising 74.6% of all incidents in 2024.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 16 fatal crash events resulted in 18 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal16fatal crashes0.5%
↓-27.3%prior 22
Serious Injury47serious injury crashes1.5%
↑14.6%prior 41
Minor Injury288minor injury crashes9.3%
↓-6.5%prior 308
Possible Injury439possible injury crashes14.1%
↑0.7%prior 436
No Injury2,316no injury crashes74.6%
↓-1.0%prior 2,339

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes showed some shifts between 2023 and 2024. "Followed too close" remained the top factor, with its count increasing slightly from 380 to 390 incidents, while collisions involving an "Animal" also saw a minor increase from 317 to 321. A notable change was the increase in crashes attributed to "Ran off road - left," which grew by 38% from 179 to 247 incidents. Conversely, crashes involving failure to yield while "Making left turn" (from 224 to 189) and "From stop sign" (from 220 to 193) both saw a reduction in count.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too close390 (12.6%)↑2.6%prior 380
Animal321 (10.3%)↑1.3%prior 317
Ran off road - left247 (8%)↑38.0%prior 179
FTYROW: From stop sign193 (6.2%)↓-12.3%prior 220
FTYROW: Making left turn189 (6.1%)↓-15.6%prior 224
Ran Traffic Signal171 (5.5%)↓-5.5%prior 181
Other (explain in narrative): Other167 (5.4%)↓-26.4%prior 227
Driving too fast for conditions162 (5.2%)↑60.4%prior 101
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction127 (4.1%)↑11.4%prior 114
Lost Control89 (2.9%)↓-3.3%prior 92

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The conditions under which crashes occurred saw a shift towards more adverse weather and road surfaces in 2024 compared to 2023. While most crashes in both years happened in daylight on dry roads, the proportion of crashes on wet roads increased from 8.4% to 11.0% of all incidents. Collisions during rain increased from 110 to 162, and crashes on snowy, icy, or slush-covered roads rose from 157 incidents in 2023 to 310 in 2024. Lighting conditions remained relatively stable, with approximately two-thirds of crashes in both periods occurring during daylight.

Weather

Clear1,946 (69.0%)
↓-3.7%prior 2,020
Cloudy505 (17.9%)
↓-17.9%prior 615
Rain162 (5.7%)
↑47.3%prior 110
Snow106 (3.8%)
↑43.2%prior 74
Freezing rain/drizzle34 (1.2%)
↓-17.1%prior 41
Fog, smoke, smog29 (1.0%)
↑70.6%prior 17
Blowing Snow22 (0.8%)
↑266.7%prior 6
Sleet, hail6 (0.2%)
Other (explain in narrative)6 (0.2%)
Severe Winds5 (0.2%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight2,088 (73.4%)
↓-0.5%prior 2,099
Dark - roadway lighted405 (14.2%)
↓-9.4%prior 447
Dark - roadway not lighted184 (6.5%)
↓-4.2%prior 192
Dusk93 (3.3%)
↑4.5%prior 89
Dawn54 (1.9%)
↓-19.4%prior 67
Dark - unknown roadway lighting20 (0.7%)
↑122.2%prior 9

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry2,151 (76.1%)
↓-12.2%prior 2,449
Wet343 (12.1%)
↑30.4%prior 263
Snow172 (6.1%)
↑145.7%prior 70
Ice/frost107 (3.8%)
↑67.2%prior 64
Slush31 (1.1%)
↑34.8%prior 23
Gravel20 (0.7%)
↓-16.7%prior 24
Sand2 (0.1%)
Other (explain in narrative)1 (0.0%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles and age demographics of persons involved in crashes were largely consistent year-over-year. The top three makes of vehicles involved in crashes remained Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota in both 2023 and 2024, with very similar incident counts for each. The age distribution of persons involved in collisions also showed minimal change, with each age bracket's share of the total remaining within one percentage point of the prior year's figures. For example, the 26-34 age group accounted for 16.6% of persons in 2024, compared to 15.9% in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (5,639 vehicles)

1
FORD916 (16.2%)
↓-3.2%prior 946
2
CHEV750 (13.3%)
↑0.5%prior 746
3
TOYT489 (8.7%)
↑3.4%prior 473
4
HOND314 (5.6%)
↑9.0%prior 288
5
JEEP233 (4.1%)
↑14.2%prior 204
6
NISS232 (4.1%)
↑4.0%prior 223
7
KIA202 (3.6%)
↓-1.0%prior 204
8
DODG186 (3.3%)
↓-8.4%prior 203
9
GMC179 (3.2%)
↓-3.2%prior 185
10
CHEVROLET174 (3.1%)
↓-14.7%prior 204

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (4,103 persons with recorded sex)

Male2,258 (55.0%)
↓-22.5%prior 2,912
Female1,845 (45.0%)
↓-25.1%prior 2,464

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 3,106
  • Total persons involved: 5,817
  • Total vehicles involved: 5,639

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: 2024." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2024-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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