Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

10,175 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2021

All metrics benchmarked against2020

In Polk County, 2021 saw a notable increase in crash incidents compared to 2020. Total crashes rose from 8,785 to 10,175, marking a 15.82% increase. The most significant year-over-year shift was in total injuries, which increased by 19.19% from 2,981 in 2020 to 3,553 in 2021.

10,175

▲ 15.8%was 8,785

Total Crash Events

44

▲ 15.8%was 38

Persons Killed

3,553

▲ 19.2%was 2,981

Persons Injured

40

▲ 33.3%was 30

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (44) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (40) 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, crash data for Polk County shows an upward trend in 2021 compared to 2020. Total crashes increased by 1,390 incidents, a 15.82% rise. Fatalities also saw an increase of 6, up 15.79%, while total injuries climbed by 572, representing a 19.19% increase.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

8

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 6↑33.3%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→%

35

Motorists Killed

Prior: 32↑9.4%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

95

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 88↑8.0%

55

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 32↑71.9%

3,394

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2,852↑19.0%

9

Other Injured

Prior: 9→0.0%

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 peak day for crashes remained Friday in both periods, with 1,707 crashes in 2021 compared to 1,553 in 2020. The peak hour for crashes shifted from 5 PM with 806 crashes in 2020 to 4 PM with 915 crashes in 2021. This indicates a consistent pattern of higher crash volumes towards the end of the work week and during late afternoon commuting hours.

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

The distribution of crash severity showed a slight increase in the fatal crash rate, rising from 0.34% in 2020 to 0.39% in 2021. Serious injury crashes increased from 1.4% (125 crashes) in 2020 to 1.7% (168 crashes) in 2021. Minor injury crashes also saw an increase from 8.9% (782 crashes) in 2020 to 9.8% (994 crashes) in 2021.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 40 fatal crash events resulted in 44 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal40fatal crashes0.4%
↑33.3%prior 30
Serious Injury168serious injury crashes1.7%
↑34.4%prior 125
Minor Injury994minor injury crashes9.8%
↑27.1%prior 782
Possible Injury2,294possible injury crashes22.5%
↑14.8%prior 1,998
No Injury6,679no injury crashes65.6%
↑14.2%prior 5,850

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

Among contributing factors, 'Followed too close' increased by 342 incidents, a 29.06% rise, remaining the top factor in both years. 'FTYROW: Making left turn' saw a 23.01% increase, rising by 113 incidents from 491 to 604. 'Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction' experienced a significant 40.32% increase, climbing by 102 incidents from 253 in 2020 to 355 in 2021.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too close1,519 (14.9%)↑29.1%prior 1,177
Other (explain in narrative): Other690 (6.8%)↑8.5%prior 636
Ran off road - left605 (5.9%)↑9.0%prior 555
FTYROW: Making left turn604 (5.9%)↑23.0%prior 491
Ran Traffic Signal598 (5.9%)↑10.1%prior 543
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner546 (5.4%)↑21.6%prior 449
Driving too fast for conditions535 (5.3%)↓-0.4%prior 537
FTYROW: From stop sign398 (3.9%)↑26.3%prior 315
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction355 (3.5%)↑40.3%prior 253
Improper or erratic lane changing313 (3.1%)↑21.8%prior 257

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Clear' weather conditions increased by 1,344 incidents, a 23.61% rise, while crashes during 'Snow' conditions decreased by 82 incidents, a 19.90% drop. Crashes on 'Dry' road surfaces increased by 1,449 incidents (22.49%), and crashes on 'Ice/frost' surfaces decreased by 67 incidents, a 14.69% reduction. Crashes during 'Daylight' conditions increased by 1,160 incidents, a 19.75% rise.

Weather

Clear7,036 (70.7%)
↑23.6%prior 5,692
Cloudy1,818 (18.3%)
↑8.8%prior 1,671
Rain536 (5.4%)
↑7.4%prior 499
Snow330 (3.3%)
↓-19.9%prior 412
Freezing rain/drizzle119 (1.2%)
↓-34.6%prior 182
Blowing Snow54 (0.5%)
↑3.8%prior 52
Fog, smoke, smog29 (0.3%)
→0.0%prior 29
Other (explain in narrative)17 (0.2%)
↑13.3%prior 15
Severe Winds6 (0.1%)
↓-57.1%prior 14
Sleet, hail4 (0.0%)
↓-76.5%prior 17

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

Lighting

Daylight7,034 (70.4%)
↑19.7%prior 5,874
Dark - roadway lighted2,102 (21.0%)
↑6.5%prior 1,974
Dark - roadway not lighted392 (3.9%)
↑9.5%prior 358
Dusk274 (2.7%)
↑18.1%prior 232
Dawn156 (1.6%)
↓-2.5%prior 160
Dark - unknown roadway lighting37 (0.4%)
↑94.7%prior 19

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

Road Surface

Dry7,891 (79.2%)
↑22.5%prior 6,442
Wet1,171 (11.8%)
↑1.4%prior 1,155
Snow419 (4.2%)
↑10.0%prior 381
Ice/frost389 (3.9%)
↓-14.7%prior 456
Slush60 (0.6%)
↓-54.5%prior 132
Gravel11 (0.1%)
↑57.1%prior 7
Other (explain in narrative)10 (0.1%)
Sand6 (0.1%)
Mud, dirt2 (0.0%)
↓-60.0%prior 5
Oil1 (0.0%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of vehicles involved in crashes increased by 2,681, a 16.08% rise, from 16,674 in 2020 to 19,355 in 2021. Ford remained the top vehicle make involved, increasing by 475 vehicles (20.87%), while Chevrolet (full name) saw a 50.99% increase, adding 511 vehicles. All age groups experienced an increase in persons involved in crashes, with the 0-15 age group showing the largest percentage increase of 27.94%, rising by 69 persons. The number of female persons involved in crashes increased by 854, a 14.13% rise, while male persons increased by 534, a 6.31% rise.

Top Vehicle Makes (19,355 vehicles)

1
FORD2,751 (14.2%)
↑20.9%prior 2,276
2
CHEV2,002 (10.3%)
↓-3.9%prior 2,083
3
CHEVROLET1,513 (7.8%)
↑51.0%prior 1,002
4
NR965 (5%)
↑5.5%prior 915
5
JEEP794 (4.1%)
↑17.8%prior 674
6
TOYT771 (4%)
↑6.3%prior 725
7
HOND699 (3.6%)
↑5.1%prior 665
8
NISS608 (3.1%)
↑2.7%prior 592
9
KIA567 (2.9%)
↑32.8%prior 427
10
TOYOTA540 (2.8%)
↑59.8%prior 338

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

3,527 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (15,895 persons with recorded sex)

Male8,999 (56.6%)
↑6.3%prior 8,465
Female6,896 (43.4%)
↑14.1%prior 6,042

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: 10,175
  • Total persons involved: 23,477
  • Total vehicles involved: 19,355

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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