Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

318 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Poweshiek County recorded 318 total crashes, a 14.4% increase from the 278 crashes in 2023. While total crashes rose, total fatalities decreased from 5 to 4, and total injuries fell from 101 to 89. A notable year-over-year shift occurred in contributing factors, where crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' increased from 7 to 32.

318

▲ 14.4%was 278

Total Crash Events

4

▼ -20.0%was 5

Persons Killed

89

▼ -11.9%was 101

Persons Injured

4

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (4) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (4) 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, crash volume in Poweshiek County increased year-over-year. The total number of crashes rose by 14.4%, from 278 in 2023 to 318 in 2024. Despite this increase in total incidents, the number of people injured and killed declined; total injuries fell by 11.9% from 101 to 89, and fatalities dropped from 5 to 4.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

4

Motorists Killed

Prior: 5↓-20.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 1→0.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0→%

87

Motorists Injured

Prior: 100↓-13.0%

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 timing of crashes shifted significantly between the two periods. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday (48 incidents) in 2023 to Tuesday (62 incidents) in 2024. Similarly, the peak hour for crashes shifted from 1 p.m. in the prior year (24 crashes) to 7 a.m. in the current year (25 crashes), indicating a change in collision patterns from afternoon to morning hours.

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 overall severity of crashes decreased year-over-year despite the increase in total incidents. While the number of fatal crashes remained constant at 4 for both periods, the fatal crash rate per 100 crashes declined from 1.44 to 1.26. The proportion of crashes resulting in any injury also decreased, from 24.8% of all crashes in 2023 to 19.8% in 2024, while the share of 'No Injury' crashes grew from 73.7% to 78.9%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal4fatal crashes1.3%
→0.0%prior 4
Serious Injury11serious injury crashes3.5%
↓-8.3%prior 12
Minor Injury24minor injury crashes7.5%
↓-14.3%prior 28
Possible Injury28possible injury crashes8.8%
↓-3.4%prior 29
No Injury251no injury crashes78.9%
↑22.4%prior 205

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 notable changes year-over-year. While collisions involving animals remained a primary cause, their count decreased from 67 in 2023 to 51 in 2024. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' surged from 7 incidents to 32, making it the second-leading factor in the current period. Other increases were seen in crashes where a driver 'Ran off road - straight' (from 17 to 24) and 'Ran Stop Sign' (from 8 to 14).

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal51 (16%)↓-23.9%prior 67
Driving too fast for conditions32 (10.1%)↑357.1%prior 7
Ran off road - straight24 (7.5%)↑41.2%prior 17
Ran off road - left22 (6.9%)↑57.1%prior 14
Lost Control18 (5.7%)↑12.5%prior 16
Ran Stop Sign14 (4.4%)↑75.0%prior 8
FTYROW: From stop sign14 (4.4%)↑27.3%prior 11
Followed too close14 (4.4%)↑75.0%prior 8
FTYROW: Making left turn11 (3.5%)↑57.1%prior 7
Other (explain in narrative): Other11 (3.5%)↓-15.4%prior 13

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring on non-dry road surfaces and in adverse weather increased in both count and proportion year-over-year. The number of crashes on roads with snow, ice, or slush rose from 11 in 2023 to 52 in 2024, and collisions during snow events increased from 9 to 36. Conversely, the proportion of crashes occurring in non-daylight conditions (dark, dusk, or dawn) decreased from 45.7% of all crashes in 2023 to 41.5% in 2024.

Weather

Clear181 (65.6%)
↑10.4%prior 164
Cloudy39 (14.1%)
↑62.5%prior 24
Snow23 (8.3%)
↑155.6%prior 9
Blowing Snow13 (4.7%)
Rain9 (3.3%)
↓-40.0%prior 15
Fog, smoke, smog4 (1.4%)
Severe Winds3 (1.1%)
Sleet, hail3 (1.1%)
Freezing rain/drizzle1 (0.4%)

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

Lighting

Daylight186 (67.4%)
↑23.2%prior 151
Dark - roadway not lighted58 (21.0%)
↑61.1%prior 36
Dark - roadway lighted15 (5.4%)
↑7.1%prior 14
Dusk10 (3.6%)
↓-23.1%prior 13
Dawn6 (2.2%)
↑20.0%prior 5
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.4%)

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

Road Surface

Dry196 (70.8%)
↑11.4%prior 176
Snow38 (13.7%)
↑245.5%prior 11
Wet18 (6.5%)
↓-30.8%prior 26
Gravel9 (3.2%)
↑80.0%prior 5
Ice/frost8 (2.9%)
Slush6 (2.2%)
Mud, dirt2 (0.7%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

The makes of vehicles involved in crashes remained consistent year-over-year, with Ford and Chevrolet continuing to be the most frequent. Ford vehicles were involved in 77 crashes in 2024, up from 72 in 2023, while Chevrolet vehicles were involved in 68 crashes, up from 65. Analysis of persons involved in crashes shows a proportional increase in the 16-25 age group, which represented 23.7% of all persons in 2024 compared to 19.8% in 2023.

Top Vehicle Makes (481 vehicles)

1
FORD77 (16%)
↑6.9%prior 72
2
CHEV51 (10.6%)
↑10.9%prior 46
3
FREIGHTLINER30 (6.2%)
↑100.0%prior 15
4
JEEP25 (5.2%)
↑13.6%prior 22
5
TOYT20 (4.2%)
6
CHEVROLET17 (3.5%)
↓-10.5%prior 19
7
DODG15 (3.1%)
↑36.4%prior 11
8
HOND14 (2.9%)
↑7.7%prior 13
9
VOLVO14 (2.9%)
↑75.0%prior 8
10
NR14 (2.9%)
↑75.0%prior 8

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

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

Sex Distribution (310 persons with recorded sex)

Male208 (67.1%)
↓-20.3%prior 261
Female102 (32.9%)
↓-23.3%prior 133

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: 318
  • Total persons involved: 502
  • Total vehicles involved: 481

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

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Poweshiek County, IA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com