Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

55 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In Winnebago County, the total number of crashes remained unchanged year-over-year, with 55 incidents recorded in both 2025 and 2024. Despite the stable crash volume, the number of fatalities decreased from three in the prior period to one in the current period. The most notable shift was a decrease in crashes attributed to driver distraction, which fell from 7 incidents to 4.

55

Total Crash Events

1

▼ -66.7%was 3

Persons Killed

20

▼ -16.7%was 24

Persons Injured

1

▼ -66.7%was 3

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (1) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (1) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall crash trend in Winnebago County was stable, with the total number of incidents holding steady at 55 for both 2025 and the prior year, representing a 0% change. While the volume of crashes did not change, the severity of outcomes improved. Fatalities decreased from three to one, and total injuries fell from 24 to 20 year-over-year.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 3↓-66.7%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0→%

19

Motorists Injured

Prior: 23↓-17.4%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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 2025, the peak day for crashes was Monday with 11 incidents, a change from the prior year's peak on Thursday which saw 13 incidents. The peak hour for collisions in the current period was shared between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., each with 6 crashes, whereas the prior period's peak was concentrated at 3 p.m. with 8 crashes.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes in Winnebago County decreased year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes dropped from three in 2024 to one in 2025, lowering the fatal crash rate from 5.5% to 1.8% of all incidents. Correspondingly, the proportion of crashes resulting in no injuries increased from 61.8% (34 crashes) in the prior period to 67.3% (37 crashes) in the current period.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes1.8%
↓-66.7%prior 3
Minor Injury9minor injury crashes16.4%
↑28.6%prior 7
Possible Injury8possible injury crashes14.5%
→0.0%prior 8
No Injury37no injury crashes67.3%
↑8.8%prior 34

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes shifted year-over-year. In 2025, 'Operating vehicle in a reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner' became a top factor, with its count increasing from two to six incidents. Conversely, crashes attributed to 'Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction' and 'Lost Control' both decreased, falling from seven incidents each in 2024 to four and five incidents, respectively, in 2025. 'Followed too close' also saw a notable increase in count, rising from one crash in the prior period to four in the current period.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner6 (10.9%)
Other (explain in narrative): Other6 (10.9%)
Lost Control5 (9.1%)↓-28.6%prior 7
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction4 (7.3%)↓-42.9%prior 7
Improper Backing4 (7.3%)
Followed too close4 (7.3%)
FTYROW: From stop sign4 (7.3%)↓-33.3%prior 6
Made improper turn3 (5.5%)
Driver Distraction: Exterior distraction2 (3.6%)
Driving too fast for conditions2 (3.6%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring during adverse weather conditions increased, accounting for 12 incidents (21.8% of all crashes) in 2025, up from 6 incidents (10.9%) in the prior year. The proportion of collisions on adverse road surfaces like wet, ice, or snow also rose, from 14 crashes in 2024 to 17 crashes in 2025. Lighting conditions remained relatively consistent, with crashes in daylight accounting for 67.3% of the total in the current period compared to 63.6% in the prior period.

Weather

Clear29 (52.7%)
↓-17.1%prior 35
Cloudy14 (25.5%)
↑16.7%prior 12
Rain4 (7.3%)
Fog, smoke, smog3 (5.5%)
Blowing Snow2 (3.6%)
Snow2 (3.6%)
Severe Winds1 (1.8%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight37 (68.5%)
↑5.7%prior 35
Dark - roadway not lighted8 (14.8%)
↓-20.0%prior 10
Dark - roadway lighted5 (9.3%)
↓-28.6%prior 7
Dawn3 (5.6%)
Dusk1 (1.9%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry35 (63.6%)
↓-5.4%prior 37
Wet9 (16.4%)
Ice/frost4 (7.3%)
↓-20.0%prior 5
Gravel3 (5.5%)
Snow3 (5.5%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
Slush1 (1.8%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford and Chevrolet remained the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes, though Ford's involvement increased from 27 to 32 vehicles while Chevrolet's decreased from 14 to 8. Honda replaced Jeep as the third most common make in 2025. The age demographics of persons involved in crashes also shifted, with a more even distribution across most adult age groups in the current year. Notably, the number of persons in the 26-34 age group involved in crashes decreased from 18 to 12 year-over-year.

Top Vehicle Makes (98 vehicles)

1
FORD32 (32.7%)
↑18.5%prior 27
2
CHEV8 (8.2%)
↓-42.9%prior 14
3
HOND6 (6.1%)
4
DODG5 (5.1%)
5
TOYT5 (5.1%)
6
DODGE5 (5.1%)
7
BUIC4 (4.1%)
8
CHEVROLET3 (3.1%)
9
CHRY3 (3.1%)
10
GMC3 (3.1%)
↓-40.0%prior 5

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (58 persons with recorded sex)

Male36 (62.1%)
→0.0%prior 36
Female22 (37.9%)
↑69.2%prior 13

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 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: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 55
  • Total persons involved: 100
  • Total vehicles involved: 98

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: 2025." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2025-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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