Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

4,515 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
JUNE 2018

All metrics benchmarked againstJune 2017

In June 2018, there were 4,515 traffic crashes statewide, a 4.7% decrease from the 4,738 crashes recorded in June 2017. While the overall number of collisions and injuries declined, the number of fatalities saw a significant year-over-year increase. Fatalities rose from 30 in the prior period to 39 in the current period, a 30% increase.

4,515

▼ -4.7%was 4,738

Total Crash Events

39

▲ 30.0%was 30

Persons Killed

1,611

▼ -12.0%was 1,830

Persons Injured

36

▲ 28.6%was 28

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (39) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (36) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends were mixed when comparing June 2018 to the same month in the prior year. The total number of crashes fell by 4.7% from 4,738 to 4,515, and total injuries decreased by 12.0% from 1,830 to 1,611. In contrast to this downward trend, traffic fatalities increased by 30%, rising from 30 to 39 year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 2→0.0%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→%

36

Motorists Killed

Prior: 28↑28.6%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

31

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 34↓-8.8%

42

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 50↓-16.0%

1,531

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,741↓-12.1%

7

Other Injured

Prior: 5↑40.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · 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. Friday was the busiest day for traffic collisions in both June 2018 (912 crashes) and June 2017 (971 crashes). The peak hour for crashes saw a slight shift, moving from 5 p.m. in the prior year (400 crashes) to 4 p.m. in the current year (393 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While overall crashes decreased, the severity of crashes worsened in June 2018 compared to the prior year. The number of fatal crashes increased from 28 to 36, and the corresponding fatal crash rate rose from 0.6% to 0.8% of all collisions. Conversely, the total number of crashes involving any level of injury (serious, minor, or possible) decreased from 1,464 to 1,284.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 36 fatal crash events resulted in 39 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal36fatal crashes0.8%
↑28.6%prior 28
Serious Injury127serious injury crashes2.8%
↓-1.6%prior 129
Minor Injury477minor injury crashes10.6%
↓-5.5%prior 505
Possible Injury680possible injury crashes15.1%
↓-18.1%prior 830
No Injury3,195no injury crashes70.8%
↓-1.6%prior 3,246

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Collisions with animals remained the leading contributing factor in both periods, with the count of such incidents increasing from 703 to 751. Following too closely was the second most cited factor, though its count decreased from 575 in June 2017 to 550 in June 2018. The top five contributing factors were largely consistent, with "Lost Control" dropping from the top five in the current period after its count decreased from 258 to 213.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal751 (16.6%)↑6.8%prior 703
Followed too close550 (12.2%)↓-4.3%prior 575
Other (explain in narrative): Other281 (6.2%)↓-10.5%prior 314
FTYROW: From stop sign250 (5.5%)↓-6.0%prior 266
Ran off road - left237 (5.2%)↓-2.5%prior 243
Lost Control213 (4.7%)↓-17.4%prior 258
FTYROW: Making left turn188 (4.2%)↓-22.3%prior 242
Ran Traffic Signal151 (3.3%)↓-1.3%prior 153
Ran off road - straight145 (3.2%)↓-12.1%prior 165
Ran Stop Sign128 (2.8%)↓-15.2%prior 151

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

There was a notable shift toward more crashes occurring in adverse conditions in June 2018 compared to the previous year. The proportion of crashes happening in the rain more than doubled, rising from 3.3% to 7.3% of all incidents. This corresponds with a similar increase in crashes on wet road surfaces, which grew from 5.7% of the total in June 2017 to 11.8% in June 2018.

Weather

Clear2,638 (67.3%)
↓-22.2%prior 3,392
Cloudy924 (23.6%)
↑53.5%prior 602
Rain330 (8.4%)
↑108.9%prior 158
Fog, smoke, smog9 (0.2%)
Severe Winds9 (0.2%)
↑50.0%prior 6
Freezing rain/drizzle4 (0.1%)
Other (explain in narrative)3 (0.1%)
Blowing sand, soil, dirt2 (0.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight3,173 (80.7%)
↓-6.5%prior 3,395
Dark - roadway lighted305 (7.8%)
↓-7.0%prior 328
Dark - roadway not lighted296 (7.5%)
↓-2.0%prior 302
Dusk84 (2.1%)
↓-6.7%prior 90
Dawn58 (1.5%)
↑3.6%prior 56
Dark - unknown roadway lighting16 (0.4%)
↑33.3%prior 12

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry3,270 (83.5%)
↓-13.4%prior 3,775
Wet533 (13.6%)
↑98.1%prior 269
Gravel89 (2.3%)
↓-20.5%prior 112
Water (standing or moving)11 (0.3%)
Mud, dirt7 (0.2%)
Other (explain in narrative)5 (0.1%)
Sand2 (0.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The rankings of top vehicle makes involved in crashes remained stable year-over-year, with Chevrolet and Ford vehicles being the most common in both periods. Demographically, the 26-34 age group was the most frequently involved in crashes in both June 2017 and June 2018. This group's representation increased slightly, accounting for 15.7% of all persons involved in crashes in the current period compared to 14.6% in the prior period.

Top Vehicle Makes (7,690 vehicles)

1
FORD1,250 (16.3%)
↓-3.4%prior 1,294
2
CHEV1,010 (13.1%)
↑6.3%prior 950
3
CHEVROLET466 (6.1%)
↓-23.1%prior 606
4
TOYT377 (4.9%)
↑8.3%prior 348
5
DODG358 (4.7%)
↑12.2%prior 319
6
HOND241 (3.1%)
↓-7.3%prior 260
7
GMC232 (3%)
↑10.5%prior 210
8
JEEP226 (2.9%)
↓-9.2%prior 249
9
TOYOTA210 (2.7%)
↓-14.6%prior 246
10
NISS197 (2.6%)
↑8.8%prior 181

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · Vehicle unit records

1,152 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (6,789 persons with recorded sex)

Male3,851 (56.7%)
↑12.3%prior 3,428
Female2,938 (43.3%)
↑6.7%prior 2,754

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30 · 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: 2018-06-01 through 2018-06-30
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2018-06-01 through 2018-06-30 (30 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 4,515
  • Total persons involved: 10,251
  • Total vehicles involved: 7,690

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: June 2018." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2018-06-01 to 2018-06-30. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/june-2018-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