Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

162 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2021

All metrics benchmarked against2020

In 2021, Humboldt County recorded 162 total crashes, a 1.2% decrease from the 164 crashes reported in 2020. While total crashes and fatalities remained stable, the most significant year-over-year change was a 51.2% increase in the number of people injured, which rose from 41 in 2020 to 62 in 2021.

162

▼ -1.2%was 164

Total Crash Events

1

Persons Killed

62

▲ 51.2%was 41

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 · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, crash volume in Humboldt County remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a slight 1.2% decrease from 164 crashes in 2020 to 162 in 2021. The number of fatalities held constant at one death in each period. However, the number of people injured increased by 51.2%, rising from 41 in 2020 to 62 in 2021.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1→0.0%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

61

Motorists Injured

Prior: 40↑52.5%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 1→0.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The timing of crashes shifted between the two periods. In 2021, the peak day for crashes was Thursday with 29 incidents, a change from 2020 when Friday was the peak day with 33 incidents. The busiest time of day also moved from the 12 p.m. hour in 2020, which saw 18 crashes, to the 5 p.m. hour in 2021, with 16 crashes.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The number of fatal crashes was unchanged, with one fatal incident recorded in both 2021 and 2020. However, there was a clear shift toward more severe outcomes, as the number of crashes involving any type of injury increased from 35 in 2020 to 46 in 2021. Consequently, the proportion of non-injury crashes fell from 78% of all incidents in 2020 to 71% in 2021.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal1fatal crashes0.6%
→0.0%prior 1
Serious Injury9serious injury crashes5.6%
↑28.6%prior 7
Minor Injury16minor injury crashes9.9%
↑60.0%prior 10
Possible Injury21possible injury crashes13%
↑16.7%prior 18
No Injury115no injury crashes71%
↓-10.2%prior 128

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

Collisions involving an 'Animal' remained the top contributing factor in both years, with 35 incidents in 2021 compared to 36 in 2020. Crashes attributed to 'Lost Control' decreased from 22 to 15, while incidents involving 'Driving too fast for conditions' fell from 14 to 6. Conversely, crashes due to 'Failure to Yield Right of Way at an uncontrolled intersection' saw a notable increase, rising from 2 incidents in 2020 to 9 in 2021.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal35 (21.6%)↓-2.8%prior 36
Lost Control15 (9.3%)↓-31.8%prior 22
Ran off road - straight11 (6.8%)↓-26.7%prior 15
Other (explain in narrative): Other10 (6.2%)
FTYROW: At uncontrolled intersection9 (5.6%)
FTYROW: From stop sign8 (4.9%)↑60.0%prior 5
Followed too close7 (4.3%)
FTYROW: From yield sign6 (3.7%)↑20.0%prior 5
Driving too fast for conditions6 (3.7%)↓-57.1%prior 14
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction5 (3.1%)↓-28.6%prior 7

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

In both years, most crashes occurred in clear weather, during daylight, and on dry roads. There was a significant decrease in crashes related to adverse road surfaces year-over-year. Incidents on roads with ice or frost dropped from 22 in 2020 to 9 in 2021, and crashes on snowy roads decreased from 7 to 2. Meanwhile, crashes on wet roads increased from 8 to 13.

Weather

Clear91 (71.7%)
↑12.3%prior 81
Cloudy26 (20.5%)
↓-23.5%prior 34
Freezing rain/drizzle4 (3.1%)
Rain4 (3.1%)
↓-20.0%prior 5
Snow2 (1.6%)
↓-66.7%prior 6

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight90 (70.9%)
↑7.1%prior 84
Dark - roadway not lighted26 (20.5%)
↓-16.1%prior 31
Dark - roadway lighted5 (3.9%)
↓-54.5%prior 11
Dawn3 (2.4%)
↓-40.0%prior 5
Dusk3 (2.4%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry90 (69.8%)
↑2.3%prior 88
Wet13 (10.1%)
↑62.5%prior 8
Snow10 (7.8%)
↑42.9%prior 7
Ice/frost9 (7.0%)
↓-59.1%prior 22
Gravel6 (4.7%)
Slush1 (0.8%)
↓-80.0%prior 5

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Chevrolet and Ford were the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes in both periods. In 2021, 42 Chevrolet vehicles and 39 Ford vehicles were involved in crashes, compared to 53 and 33, respectively, in 2020. Regarding driver and passenger demographics, there was a notable increase in the number of persons aged 35-44 involved in crashes, from 43 in 2020 to 58 in 2021, while the 16-20 age group saw a decrease from 62 to 50.

Top Vehicle Makes (240 vehicles)

1
FORD39 (16.3%)
↑18.2%prior 33
2
CHEV28 (11.7%)
↓-33.3%prior 42
3
GMC17 (7.1%)
↑30.8%prior 13
4
JEEP15 (6.3%)
↑150.0%prior 6
5
CHEVROLET14 (5.8%)
↑27.3%prior 11
6
DODG14 (5.8%)
↓-22.2%prior 18
7
TOYOTA9 (3.8%)
8
DODGE6 (2.5%)
↑20.0%prior 5
9
KIA6 (2.5%)
→0.0%prior 6
10
TOYT6 (2.5%)
↓-33.3%prior 9

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

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

Sex Distribution (199 persons with recorded sex)

Male130 (65.3%)
↑6.6%prior 122
Female69 (34.7%)
↓-25.0%prior 92

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31 · 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: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2021-01-01 through 2021-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 162
  • Total persons involved: 325
  • Total vehicles involved: 240

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: 2021." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2021-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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