Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

37 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2017

All metrics benchmarked against2016

In Ringgold County, total crashes increased from 32 in 2016 to 37 in 2017, a 15.6% rise. Despite the increase in total collisions, the number of fatalities decreased significantly, falling from 6 in the prior year to 2 in the current year. The number of people injured in crashes remained unchanged at 18.

37

15.6%was 32

Total Crash Events

2

-66.7%was 6

Persons Killed

18

Persons Injured

2

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 · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, the total number of crashes in Ringgold County rose by 15.6% from 32 in 2016 to 37 in 2017. While total collisions increased, the number of people injured remained stable at 18 for both years. The number of fatalities saw a significant decrease, falling from 6 to 2 year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 6-66.7%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0%

17

Motorists Injured

Prior: 18-5.6%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2017, Monday was the most common day for crashes with 12 incidents, a notable change from 2016 when Wednesday was the peak day with 8 crashes. The peak hour for collisions remained consistent, with the 3 p.m. hour having the highest frequency in both years, accounting for 7 crashes in 2017 and 5 in 2016.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While the number of fatal crashes remained constant at 2 in both 2016 and 2017, the fatal crash rate as a percentage of all crashes decreased from 6.3% to 5.4%. The total number of injury-related crashes was also stable at 15 incidents for both years, though their proportion of total crashes fell from 46.9% to 40.5%. Correspondingly, crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 15 in 2016 to 20 in 2017, representing a larger share of total incidents (54.1% vs. 46.9%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes5.4%
0.0%prior 2
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes2.7%
-50.0%prior 2
Minor Injury4minor injury crashes10.8%
-42.9%prior 7
Possible Injury10possible injury crashes27%
66.7%prior 6
No Injury20no injury crashes54.1%
33.3%prior 15

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes shifted between 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the most cited factor was 'Other', which increased from 2 to 8 incidents. 'Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction' also saw a notable increase, rising from 1 to 4 incidents. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Lost Control' decreased from 5 to 4, and incidents involving 'Ran Stop Sign' fell from 4 to 1. 'Ran off road - straight' remained a significant factor, increasing slightly from 3 to 4 incidents.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Other (explain in narrative): Other8 (21.6%)
Ran off road - straight4 (10.8%)
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction4 (10.8%)
Lost Control4 (10.8%)-20.0%prior 5
Animal2 (5.4%)
FTYROW: Other (explain in narrative)2 (5.4%)
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner2 (5.4%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (5.4%)
Ran Stop Sign1 (2.7%)
Driver Distraction: Adjusting devices (radio, climate)1 (2.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in both years predominantly occurred in clear weather and on dry roads. In 2017, 81.1% of crashes happened in clear weather and 83.8% on dry surfaces, proportions similar to 2016's figures of 78.1% and 78.1%, respectively. Regarding lighting, the number of crashes in daylight increased from 18 to 25, accounting for a larger share of total incidents (67.6% in 2017 vs. 56.3% in 2016). The number of crashes on unlit dark roadways remained unchanged at 9 incidents in both years.

Weather

Clear30 (81.1%)
20.0%prior 25
Cloudy5 (13.5%)
Rain1 (2.7%)
Snow1 (2.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight25 (67.6%)
38.9%prior 18
Dark - roadway not lighted9 (24.3%)
0.0%prior 9
Dark - roadway lighted2 (5.4%)
Dawn1 (2.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry31 (83.8%)
24.0%prior 25
Gravel3 (8.1%)
Wet2 (5.4%)
Snow1 (2.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (57 vehicles)

1
FORD10 (17.5%)
25.0%prior 8
2
CHEV7 (12.3%)
3
DODG5 (8.8%)
4
CHEVROLET4 (7%)
5
NR4 (7%)
6
CHRY4 (7%)
7
DEER3 (5.3%)
8
GMC2 (3.5%)
9
DODGE2 (3.5%)
10
PETERBILT1 (1.8%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (34 persons with recorded sex)

Male24 (70.6%)
41.2%prior 17
Female10 (29.4%)
-16.7%prior 12

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31 · 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: 2017-01-01 through 2017-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2017-01-01 through 2017-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 37
  • Total persons involved: 67
  • Total vehicles involved: 57

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: 2017." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2017-01-01 to 2017-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2017-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