Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

1,959 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2022

All metrics benchmarked against2021

In 2022, Dubuque County recorded 1,959 total traffic crashes, a slight increase of 0.6% from the 1,948 crashes reported in 2021. While the overall crash volume remained relatively stable, the most notable year-over-year shift was a significant increase in crash severity. The number of fatalities resulting from these incidents tripled, rising from 4 in 2021 to 12 in 2022.

1,959

▲ 0.6%was 1,948

Total Crash Events

12

▲ 200.0%was 4

Persons Killed

552

▼ -4.5%was 578

Persons Injured

9

▲ 125.0%was 4

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (12) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (9) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash trends in Dubuque County were relatively stable year-over-year, with total crashes increasing by just 11 incidents from 1,948 to 1,959. However, the outcomes of these crashes worsened significantly. While total injuries decreased by 4.5% from 578 to 552, the number of people killed in crashes tripled from 4 in 2021 to 12 in 2022.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

11

Motorists Killed

Prior: 4↑175.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

20

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 16↑25.0%

11

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 11→0.0%

520

Motorists Injured

Prior: 549↓-5.3%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 2↓-50.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes showed some consistency and some change between the two periods. Friday remained the peak day for crashes in both 2022 (358 crashes) and 2021 (345 crashes). However, the peak hour for incidents shifted earlier in the day, moving from the 5 p.m. hour in 2021 (168 crashes) to the 3 p.m. hour in 2022 (160 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity notably worsened in 2022 compared to the prior year. The number of fatal crashes more than doubled from 4 to 9, leading to a fatal crash rate increase from 0.21 to 0.46. This corresponded with a tripling of total fatalities from 4 to 12. In contrast, the proportions of injury-related crashes remained almost unchanged, with serious injury crashes (1.2%), minor injury crashes (8.4% vs 8.5%), and possible injury crashes (14.6% vs 14.6%) making up a consistent share of total incidents in both years.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 9 fatal crash events resulted in 12 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal9fatal crashes0.5%
↑125.0%prior 4
Serious Injury24serious injury crashes1.2%
↑4.3%prior 23
Minor Injury164minor injury crashes8.4%
↓-0.6%prior 165
Possible Injury286possible injury crashes14.6%
↑0.4%prior 285
No Injury1,476no injury crashes75.3%
↑0.3%prior 1,471

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The primary contributing factors to crashes were similar in both years, with "Ran off road - left" remaining the top cause, increasing in count from 435 incidents in 2021 to 461 in 2022. Collisions involving an animal remained the second-most frequent factor, with a slight decrease in count from 224 to 218. A notable shift was the increase in crashes where the driver failed to yield right-of-way from a stop sign, which grew from 78 incidents to 99. Conversely, crashes attributed to a driver losing control decreased from 103 to 91.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Ran off road - left461 (23.5%)↑6.0%prior 435
Animal218 (11.1%)↓-2.7%prior 224
Ran Traffic Signal119 (6.1%)↑9.2%prior 109
FTYROW: From stop sign99 (5.1%)↑26.9%prior 78
Followed too close96 (4.9%)↓-2.0%prior 98
Ran Stop Sign93 (4.7%)↑2.2%prior 91
Lost Control91 (4.6%)↓-11.7%prior 103
Other (explain in narrative): Other81 (4.1%)↑19.1%prior 68
FTYROW: Making left turn78 (4%)↑1.3%prior 77
Other (explain in narrative): No improper action54 (2.8%)↓-30.8%prior 78

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The majority of crashes in both periods occurred under ideal conditions: during daylight, in clear weather, and on dry road surfaces. The proportion of crashes happening in daylight was nearly identical at approximately 63.5% for both years. There was a slight increase in the share of crashes occurring in dark conditions, rising from 22.6% in 2021 to 23.9% in 2022. The proportion of crashes on adverse road surfaces such as wet, snow, or ice remained stable, accounting for about 21% of all incidents in both 2021 and 2022.

Weather

Clear1,168 (66.0%)
↑4.6%prior 1,117
Cloudy330 (18.7%)
↓-11.3%prior 372
Rain118 (6.7%)
↑14.6%prior 103
Snow102 (5.8%)
↑12.1%prior 91
Freezing rain/drizzle28 (1.6%)
↓-9.7%prior 31
Blowing Snow11 (0.6%)
↓-8.3%prior 12
Severe Winds8 (0.5%)
↑60.0%prior 5
Other (explain in narrative)3 (0.2%)
Sleet, hail1 (0.1%)
↓-85.7%prior 7

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight1,243 (70.3%)
↑0.3%prior 1,239
Dark - roadway lighted334 (18.9%)
↑7.7%prior 310
Dark - roadway not lighted133 (7.5%)
↑5.6%prior 126
Dusk45 (2.5%)
↑15.4%prior 39
Dawn13 (0.7%)
↓-62.9%prior 35
Dark - unknown roadway lighting1 (0.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry1,356 (76.5%)
↑1.3%prior 1,338
Wet213 (12.0%)
↑9.2%prior 195
Snow120 (6.8%)
↑23.7%prior 97
Ice/frost56 (3.2%)
↓-40.4%prior 94
Slush19 (1.1%)
→0.0%prior 19
Gravel7 (0.4%)
→0.0%prior 7
Water (standing or moving)1 (0.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes were consistent year-over-year, with Chevrolet and Ford vehicles being the most common in both periods. Chevrolet-branded vehicles were involved in 732 crashes in 2022 compared to 728 in 2021, while Ford vehicles were involved in 482 crashes, down from 487. Analysis of the age of persons involved revealed a notable increase in the 26-34 age group, which grew from 600 individuals in 2021 to 694 in 2022. The 35-44 age group also saw its involvement increase from 547 persons to 652.

Top Vehicle Makes (3,487 vehicles)

1
CHEV497 (14.3%)
↑17.5%prior 423
2
FORD482 (13.8%)
↓-1.0%prior 487
3
CHEVROLET235 (6.7%)
↓-23.0%prior 305
4
JEEP181 (5.2%)
↑8.4%prior 167
5
TOYT180 (5.2%)
↑26.8%prior 142
6
HOND152 (4.4%)
↑28.8%prior 118
7
KIA138 (4%)
↑1.5%prior 136
8
GMC136 (3.9%)
↑4.6%prior 130
9
DODG122 (3.5%)
↑16.2%prior 105
10
TOYOTA103 (3%)
↑9.6%prior 94

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (3,111 persons with recorded sex)

Male1,759 (56.5%)
↑13.5%prior 1,550
Female1,352 (43.5%)
↑4.6%prior 1,292

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31 · 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: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2022-01-01 through 2022-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 1,959
  • Total persons involved: 4,561
  • Total vehicles involved: 3,487

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: 2022." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2022-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2022-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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