Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

27 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2019

All metrics benchmarked against2018

In Adams County, the total number of crashes remained unchanged at 27 in 2019 compared to 2018. Despite the stable crash volume, the severity of outcomes increased notably. The county recorded one fatality in 2019 after having zero in the prior year, and the total number of people injured more than doubled from 5 to 11.

27

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

11

▲ 120.0%was 5

Persons Injured

1

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 · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Year-over-year, the total number of vehicle crashes in Adams County was stable, with 27 incidents recorded in both 2019 and 2018. This represents a 0% change in overall crash frequency. However, while the total number of crashes did not change, the number of persons injured increased by 120%, rising from 5 in 2018 to 11 in 2019.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 0→%

11

Motorists Injured

Prior: 5↑120.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes in Adams County shifted between 2018 and 2019. The peak day for collisions moved from Sunday (8 crashes) in 2018 to Friday (7 crashes) in 2019. Similarly, the peak hour changed from the 7 a.m. hour in the prior year to the 10 a.m. hour in the current year. Weekend patterns also saw a significant redistribution, with crashes on Sunday decreasing from 8 to 1, while Saturday crashes increased from 0 to 6.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity worsened in 2019 compared to the previous year. The county recorded one fatal crash, accounting for 3.7% of all incidents, whereas there were no fatal crashes in 2018. The proportion of crashes resulting in any form of injury increased from 18.5% in 2018 (5 crashes) to 29.6% in 2019 (8 crashes). This included the appearance of a serious injury crash in 2019, a severity level not recorded in the prior year's data.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes3.7%
Serious Injury1serious injury crashes3.7%
Minor Injury2minor injury crashes7.4%
↓-50.0%prior 4
Possible Injury4possible injury crashes14.8%
↑300.0%prior 1
No Injury19no injury crashes70.4%
↓-13.6%prior 22

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Collisions involving an animal remained the most common contributing factor in both periods, though the count decreased from 7 crashes in 2018 to 6 in 2019. Crashes attributed to 'Lost Control' saw a notable decrease, falling from 4 incidents in 2018 to 1 in 2019. In contrast, 'Ran off road - straight' was cited in 2 crashes in 2019, a factor not listed among the top causes in 2018. The number of crashes where a driver was operating their vehicle in a reckless or erratic manner decreased from 2 to 1.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal6 (22.2%)↓-14.3%prior 7
Other (explain in narrative): Other2 (7.4%)
Ran off road - straight2 (7.4%)
FTYROW: From parked position1 (3.7%)
FTYROW: From stop sign1 (3.7%)
FTYROW: Making left turn1 (3.7%)
FTYROW: Other (explain in narrative)1 (3.7%)
Improper Backing1 (3.7%)
Lost Control1 (3.7%)
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner1 (3.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The majority of crashes in both 2019 and 2018 occurred in daylight on dry roads. The number of crashes in daylight was identical at 15 for both years, while crashes on dry roads decreased slightly from 17 to 16. Collisions in dark conditions increased from 5 in 2018 to 7 in 2019. Crashes on adverse road surfaces such as snow, ice, or slush also saw an increase, rising from 4 incidents in 2018 to 6 in 2019.

Weather

Clear13 (59.1%)
↓-7.1%prior 14
Cloudy7 (31.8%)
Snow2 (9.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight15 (68.2%)
→0.0%prior 15
Dark - roadway lighted4 (18.2%)
Dark - roadway not lighted3 (13.6%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry16 (72.7%)
↓-5.9%prior 17
Snow3 (13.6%)
Ice/frost2 (9.1%)
Slush1 (4.5%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (44 vehicles)

1
CHEVROLET9 (20.5%)
↑50.0%prior 6
2
FORD6 (13.6%)
↓-14.3%prior 7
3
CHEV5 (11.4%)
↓-28.6%prior 7
4
GMC4 (9.1%)
5
BUIC3 (6.8%)
6
DODGE3 (6.8%)
7
NR2 (4.5%)
8
FREIGHTLINER2 (4.5%)
9
CADI1 (2.3%)
10
HYUN1 (2.3%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (39 persons with recorded sex)

Male25 (64.1%)
↑31.6%prior 19
Female14 (35.9%)
↑7.7%prior 13

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31 · 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: 2019-01-01 through 2019-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2019-01-01 through 2019-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 27
  • Total persons involved: 66
  • Total vehicles involved: 44

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: 2019." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2019-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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