Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

274 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In Fayette County, total crashes decreased slightly from 282 in 2023 to 274 in 2024, a 2.8% reduction. Despite the drop in total incidents, the number of fatalities increased from two to three persons during the same period. The most significant shift in crash causes was a large increase in incidents attributed to 'Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction', which grew from 3 to 13 cases.

274

▼ -2.8%was 282

Total Crash Events

3

▲ 50.0%was 2

Persons Killed

68

Persons Injured

3

▲ 50.0%was 2

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (3) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (3) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

The overall trend in Fayette County shows a slight decrease in traffic crashes year-over-year. Total incidents fell by 2.8%, from 282 in 2023 to 274 in 2024. However, the outcomes of these crashes worsened, with fatalities rising from 2 to 3, while the total number of injuries remained unchanged at 68.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

3

Motorists Killed

Prior: 2↑50.0%

1

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 0→%

1

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 0→%

66

Motorists Injured

Prior: 68↓-2.9%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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 2024, the peak days for crashes were Tuesday and Friday, each with 45 incidents, a change from the prior year's peak on Thursday with 50 crashes. The most frequent crash hour also moved earlier in the evening, from 9 p.m. in 2023 (23 crashes) to 6 p.m. in 2024 (21 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes decreased, the severity of those crashes increased year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes rose from 2 to 3, and the corresponding fatal crash rate increased from 0.71 to 1.09 per 100 crashes. The count of serious injury crashes also doubled, from 4 in 2023 to 8 in 2024, while the number of no-injury crashes declined from 226 to 215.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal3fatal crashes1.1%
↑50.0%prior 2
Serious Injury8serious injury crashes2.9%
↑100.0%prior 4
Minor Injury28minor injury crashes10.2%
↓-3.4%prior 29
Possible Injury20possible injury crashes7.3%
↓-4.8%prior 21
No Injury215no injury crashes78.5%
↓-4.9%prior 226

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Collisions with animals remained the top contributing factor in both periods, though the count decreased from 123 crashes in 2023 to 104 in 2024. 'Ran off road - left' was the second most common factor in 2024 with 21 incidents, a slight increase from 20 in the prior year. Notably, the count of crashes attributed to 'Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction' increased from 3 to 13, and crashes from 'FTYROW: Making left turn' grew from 3 to 8.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal104 (38%)↓-15.4%prior 123
Ran off road - left21 (7.7%)↑5.0%prior 20
Lost Control16 (5.8%)↑6.7%prior 15
Other (explain in narrative): Other14 (5.1%)↓-17.6%prior 17
FTYROW: From stop sign13 (4.7%)→0.0%prior 13
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction13 (4.7%)
Ran off road - straight10 (3.6%)↓-28.6%prior 14
FTYROW: Making left turn8 (2.9%)
Ran Stop Sign8 (2.9%)↓-27.3%prior 11
Driving too fast for conditions8 (2.9%)↑60.0%prior 5

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crash conditions remained broadly similar year-over-year, with clear weather, daylight hours, and dry road surfaces accounting for the largest share of incidents in both periods. The proportion of crashes occurring in daylight increased from 39.7% in 2023 to 43.4% in 2024. Crashes on icy or frosty roads saw a small reduction in count, from 13 incidents in 2023 to 10 in 2024.

Weather

Clear133 (71.9%)
↑6.4%prior 125
Cloudy27 (14.6%)
↓-18.2%prior 33
Fog, smoke, smog8 (4.3%)
Snow5 (2.7%)
Severe Winds3 (1.6%)
Freezing rain/drizzle3 (1.6%)
Rain3 (1.6%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
Blowing Snow2 (1.1%)
Sleet, hail1 (0.5%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight119 (64.3%)
↑6.3%prior 112
Dark - roadway not lighted39 (21.1%)
↓-4.9%prior 41
Dark - roadway lighted14 (7.6%)
↑40.0%prior 10
Dawn5 (2.7%)
↓-16.7%prior 6
Dusk5 (2.7%)
↓-16.7%prior 6
Dark - unknown roadway lighting3 (1.6%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry135 (72.6%)
↑8.9%prior 124
Wet18 (9.7%)
↑63.6%prior 11
Snow12 (6.5%)
↑50.0%prior 8
Ice/frost10 (5.4%)
↓-23.1%prior 13
Gravel9 (4.8%)
↓-47.1%prior 17
Slush1 (0.5%)
Water (standing or moving)1 (0.5%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes remained consistent, with Ford and Chevrolet models leading in both years. The number of Ford vehicles in crashes increased from 73 to 87, while combined Chevrolet models decreased from 101 to 86. Regarding persons involved, there was a notable decrease in the 65+ age group, which fell from 105 individuals in 2023 to 61 in 2024.

Top Vehicle Makes (378 vehicles)

1
FORD87 (23%)
↑19.2%prior 73
2
CHEV66 (17.5%)
↓-15.4%prior 78
3
JEEP22 (5.8%)
↑214.3%prior 7
4
CHEVROLET20 (5.3%)
↓-13.0%prior 23
5
GMC16 (4.2%)
↓-15.8%prior 19
6
DODG16 (4.2%)
↓-27.3%prior 22
7
DODGE15 (4%)
→0.0%prior 15
8
BUIC10 (2.6%)
↓-9.1%prior 11
9
KIA9 (2.4%)
↑80.0%prior 5
10
CHRY8 (2.1%)
↓-38.5%prior 13

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (190 persons with recorded sex)

Male121 (63.7%)
↓-42.7%prior 211
Female69 (36.3%)
↓-51.1%prior 141

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 274
  • Total persons involved: 387
  • Total vehicles involved: 378

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: 2024." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2024-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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