Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

188 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Clarke County recorded 188 total crashes, a 7.4% increase from the 175 crashes reported in 2022. While the number of fatal crashes remained stable at two, the total number of people injured rose by 37.0%, from 46 in 2022 to 63 in 2023. Total fatalities also increased from two to three year-over-year.

188

▲ 7.4%was 175

Total Crash Events

3

▲ 50.0%was 2

Persons Killed

63

▲ 37.0%was 46

Persons Injured

2

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) 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 · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic crash trends in Clarke County showed an increase from 2022 to 2023. The total number of crashes rose by 7.4%, from 175 to 188. This was accompanied by a significant rise in negative outcomes, with total injuries increasing by 37.0% and fatalities increasing from two to three.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

3

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2↑50.0%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0→%

62

Motorists Injured

Prior: 45↑37.8%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes in Clarke County shifted between 2022 and 2023. The peak day for crashes moved from Monday in 2022 (35 crashes) to Friday in 2023 (35 crashes). The peak hour for collisions also shifted later in the day, from the 3 p.m. hour in 2022 (17 crashes) to the 5 p.m. hour in 2023 (18 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The number of fatal crashes remained unchanged at two in both 2022 and 2023, resulting in a slight decrease in the fatal crash rate from 1.14 to 1.06 per 100 crashes. However, the overall proportion of crashes involving an injury increased from 21.7% in 2022 to 25.5% in 2023. This change was driven by a significant rise in minor injury crashes, which more than doubled from 12 to 27, while serious injury crashes decreased from 6 to 3.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 2 fatal crash events resulted in 3 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes1.1%
→0.0%prior 2
Serious Injury3serious injury crashes1.6%
↓-50.0%prior 6
Minor Injury27minor injury crashes14.4%
↑125.0%prior 12
Possible Injury18possible injury crashes9.6%
↓-10.0%prior 20
No Injury138no injury crashes73.4%
↑2.2%prior 135

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors for crashes in Clarke County remained consistent year-over-year, with 'Animal' being the most cited cause in both 2023 (39 crashes) and 2022 (38 crashes). The counts for the next three most common factors also increased: 'Lost Control' rose from 17 to 20 incidents, 'Followed too close' increased from 16 to 18, and 'Ran off road - straight' went from 13 to 16. Notably, crashes where drivers failed to yield while making a left turn decreased from 11 in 2022 to 4 in 2023.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal39 (20.7%)↑2.6%prior 38
Lost Control20 (10.6%)↑17.6%prior 17
Followed too close18 (9.6%)↑12.5%prior 16
Ran off road - straight16 (8.5%)↑23.1%prior 13
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner9 (4.8%)
FTYROW: From stop sign9 (4.8%)→0.0%prior 9
Ran off road - left9 (4.8%)
Other (explain in narrative): Other8 (4.3%)↓-20.0%prior 10
Driving too fast for conditions6 (3.2%)↓-25.0%prior 8
Failed to keep in proper lane4 (2.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions remained broadly similar between 2022 and 2023, with most incidents occurring in daylight and on dry roads in both years. The proportion of crashes in daylight was stable at approximately 52% for both periods. There was a shift toward clearer conditions, with the share of crashes in clear weather increasing from 51.4% in 2022 to 56.9% in 2023, and crashes on dry roads rising from 58.9% to 62.2% of all incidents.

Weather

Clear107 (70.4%)
↑18.9%prior 90
Cloudy23 (15.1%)
↓-11.5%prior 26
Rain8 (5.3%)
↓-27.3%prior 11
Snow7 (4.6%)
↓-36.4%prior 11
Freezing rain/drizzle3 (2.0%)
Fog, smoke, smog2 (1.3%)
Sleet, hail2 (1.3%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight98 (64.5%)
↑7.7%prior 91
Dark - roadway not lighted24 (15.8%)
↓-7.7%prior 26
Dark - roadway lighted16 (10.5%)
↓-11.1%prior 18
Dusk9 (5.9%)
Dawn4 (2.6%)
↓-33.3%prior 6
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry117 (77.5%)
↑13.6%prior 103
Wet16 (10.6%)
↓-23.8%prior 21
Snow6 (4.0%)
↓-45.5%prior 11
Gravel5 (3.3%)
Ice/frost4 (2.6%)
Slush2 (1.3%)
Mud, dirt1 (0.7%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford and Chevrolet were the two most frequently involved vehicle makes in crashes in both 2022 and 2023, with the number of vehicles from both makes increasing year-over-year. An analysis of persons involved in crashes reveals a significant increase in the 16-20 age group, which grew from 27 individuals in 2022 to 47 in 2023. The 26-34 age group was the most represented demographic in both years, though its count slightly decreased from 75 to 69.

Top Vehicle Makes (283 vehicles)

1
FORD42 (14.8%)
↑7.7%prior 39
2
CHEV36 (12.7%)
↑12.5%prior 32
3
CHEVROLET19 (6.7%)
↑35.7%prior 14
4
NISS14 (4.9%)
↑133.3%prior 6
5
JEEP13 (4.6%)
↑160.0%prior 5
6
GMC13 (4.6%)
↑85.7%prior 7
7
TOYO9 (3.2%)
↑12.5%prior 8
8
HOND9 (3.2%)
9
NISSAN8 (2.8%)
↑60.0%prior 5
10
NR7 (2.5%)
↓-12.5%prior 8

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (257 persons with recorded sex)

Male158 (61.5%)
↑3.9%prior 152
Female99 (38.5%)
↑12.5%prior 88

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · 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: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 188
  • Total persons involved: 400
  • Total vehicles involved: 283

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: 2023." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2023-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