Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

56 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2017

All metrics benchmarked against2016

In 2017, Winnebago County recorded 56 total crashes, a 9.7% decrease from the 62 crashes reported in 2016. While overall collisions and injuries (23, down from 27) declined, the most significant year-over-year shift was the occurrence of two traffic fatalities in 2017, whereas none were recorded in the prior year.

56

▼ -9.7%was 62

Total Crash Events

2

Persons Killed

23

▼ -14.8%was 27

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

Traffic safety metrics in Winnebago County showed a mixed but generally downward trend from 2016 to 2017. The total number of crashes decreased by 9.7% from 62 to 56, and the number of people injured fell by 14.8% from 27 to 23. However, this period saw the introduction of two fatalities after a year with none.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→%

23

Motorists Injured

Prior: 26↓-11.5%

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 daily and hourly patterns of crashes in Winnebago County remained consistent year-over-year. Monday was the peak day for collisions in both 2017 (11 crashes) and 2016 (13 crashes). Similarly, the 3 p.m. hour remained the most frequent time for crashes in both periods, with 8 incidents in 2017 and 7 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

Crash severity worsened in 2017 despite a lower total crash volume. Two fatal crashes occurred, accounting for 3.6% of all incidents, compared to zero fatal crashes in 2016. The proportion of crashes resulting in serious injuries decreased from 6.5% (4 crashes) in 2016 to 5.4% (3 crashes) in 2017, while the share of no-injury crashes increased slightly from 62.9% to 64.3%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes3.6%
Serious Injury3serious injury crashes5.4%
↓-25.0%prior 4
Minor Injury7minor injury crashes12.5%
↓-30.0%prior 10
Possible Injury8possible injury crashes14.3%
↓-11.1%prior 9
No Injury36no injury crashes64.3%
↓-7.7%prior 39

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 primary contributing factors to crashes shifted between 2016 and 2017. In 2017, 'Lost Control' was the most-cited factor with 7 crashes, an increase from 6 incidents the previous year. Crashes involving an 'Animal' also rose from 2 to 5. Conversely, incidents related to stop sign violations decreased substantially, with 'FTYROW: From stop sign' falling from 7 to 2 crashes and 'Ran Stop Sign' incidents dropping from 6 to 2.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Lost Control7 (12.5%)↑16.7%prior 6
Animal5 (8.9%)
Ran off road - straight5 (8.9%)
Other (explain in narrative): Other4 (7.1%)
Swerving/Evasive Action3 (5.4%)
FTYROW: At uncontrolled intersection2 (3.6%)
FTYROW: From stop sign2 (3.6%)↓-71.4%prior 7
Ran Stop Sign2 (3.6%)↓-66.7%prior 6
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction2 (3.6%)
Crossed centerline (undivided)2 (3.6%)

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 2017 were more likely to occur in adverse conditions compared to 2016. The proportion of crashes on dry road surfaces decreased from 66.1% in 2016 to 57.1% in 2017, while the share of crashes in clear weather fell from 61.3% to 50.0%. A larger percentage of crashes occurred during daylight in 2017, rising to 75.0% of all incidents from 64.5% in the prior year.

Weather

Clear28 (52.8%)
↓-26.3%prior 38
Cloudy19 (35.8%)
↑58.3%prior 12
Rain3 (5.7%)
Snow1 (1.9%)
Severe Winds1 (1.9%)
Freezing rain/drizzle1 (1.9%)

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

Lighting

Daylight42 (79.2%)
↑5.0%prior 40
Dark - roadway not lighted7 (13.2%)
↓-41.7%prior 12
Dark - roadway lighted4 (7.5%)
↓-42.9%prior 7

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

Road Surface

Dry32 (60.4%)
↓-22.0%prior 41
Gravel9 (17.0%)
Wet7 (13.2%)
↑40.0%prior 5
Ice/frost3 (5.7%)
↓-50.0%prior 6
Snow2 (3.8%)
↓-60.0%prior 5

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford was the most common vehicle make involved in crashes in both years, with its count increasing from 22 vehicles in 2016 to 24 in 2017. The involvement of Chevrolet vehicles (including 'CHEV' and 'CHEVROLET') decreased from a combined 26 to 10. Demographically, the 16-20 age group was highly represented in both years with 21 persons involved, while the 45-54 age group's involvement dropped from 23 persons in 2016 to 10 in 2017.

Top Vehicle Makes (87 vehicles)

1
FORD24 (27.6%)
↑9.1%prior 22
2
DODG6 (6.9%)
3
CHEVROLET6 (6.9%)
↓-45.5%prior 11
4
HONDA5 (5.7%)
5
CHEV4 (4.6%)
↓-73.3%prior 15
6
GMC4 (4.6%)
7
CHRYSLER4 (4.6%)
8
FREIGHTLINER3 (3.4%)
9
BUIC2 (2.3%)
10
BUICK2 (2.3%)

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

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

Sex Distribution (67 persons with recorded sex)

Male39 (58.2%)
↓-9.3%prior 43
Female28 (41.8%)
↓-20.0%prior 35

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: 56
  • Total persons involved: 105
  • Total vehicles involved: 87

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

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