Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

692 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2021

All metrics benchmarked against2020

In 2021, Jasper County recorded 692 total crashes, a 21.2% increase from the 571 crashes reported in 2020. While total fatalities remained unchanged at 4, the number of people injured rose from 185 to 219. A notable year-over-year shift was the increase in crashes involving possible injuries, which grew from 67 incidents in 2020 to 97 in 2021.

692

▲ 21.2%was 571

Total Crash Events

4

Persons Killed

219

▲ 18.4%was 185

Persons Injured

4

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (4) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (4) 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

Crash trends in Jasper County showed a notable increase from 2020 to 2021. Total crashes rose by 21.2%, from 571 to 692 incidents. This increase was accompanied by a rise in total injuries from 185 to 219, while fatalities held steady at 4 for both annual periods.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 1→0.0%

3

Motorists Killed

Prior: 3→0.0%

3

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 3→0.0%

3

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 2↑50.0%

213

Motorists Injured

Prior: 180↑18.3%

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 123 incidents, a change from 2020 when Friday was the peak with 101 crashes. The busiest hour also shifted later into the evening, moving from a peak of 42 crashes at both 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in 2020 to a peak of 44 crashes at 7 p.m. in 2021.

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

While the number of fatal crashes remained constant at 4 in both 2021 and 2020, the fatal crash rate decreased slightly from 0.7% to 0.58% due to the higher total crash volume in 2021. The count of crashes resulting in serious injuries increased from 17 to 24 year-over-year. Incidents involving possible injuries saw a significant rise, increasing from 67 crashes (11.7% share) in 2020 to 97 crashes (14% share) in 2021.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal4fatal crashes0.6%
→0.0%prior 4
Serious Injury24serious injury crashes3.5%
↑41.2%prior 17
Minor Injury69minor injury crashes10%
↑6.2%prior 65
Possible Injury97possible injury crashes14%
↑44.8%prior 67
No Injury498no injury crashes72%
↑19.1%prior 418

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 the count increasing from 110 in 2020 to 126 in 2021. 'Lost Control' also held its position as the second-most common factor, rising from 59 to 72 incidents. The number of crashes attributed to 'Driving too fast for conditions' grew from 43 to 59, making it the third-leading factor in 2021 and replacing 'Ran off road - straight' from the prior year's top three.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Animal126 (18.2%)↑14.5%prior 110
Lost Control72 (10.4%)↑22.0%prior 59
Driving too fast for conditions59 (8.5%)↑37.2%prior 43
Ran off road - straight52 (7.5%)↓-5.5%prior 55
Ran off road - left41 (5.9%)↑32.3%prior 31
Other (explain in narrative): Other38 (5.5%)↑111.1%prior 18
Followed too close34 (4.9%)↑17.2%prior 29
Other (explain in narrative): No improper action24 (3.5%)→0.0%prior 24
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction21 (3%)↑23.5%prior 17
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner19 (2.7%)↑11.8%prior 17

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

Road & Environmental Conditions

The majority of crashes in both 2021 and 2020 occurred in clear weather and daylight, with these proportions remaining stable year-over-year. However, there was a notable increase in crashes under adverse winter conditions; incidents on roads with ice or frost increased from 37 in 2020 to 60 in 2021. Crashes reported in snow or blowing snow conditions also rose from a combined 48 incidents in 2020 to 82 in 2021.

Weather

Clear412 (68.8%)
↑22.3%prior 337
Cloudy62 (10.4%)
↓-8.8%prior 68
Snow43 (7.2%)
↑22.9%prior 35
Blowing Snow39 (6.5%)
↑200.0%prior 13
Rain16 (2.7%)
↓-27.3%prior 22
Freezing rain/drizzle12 (2.0%)
→0.0%prior 12
Fog, smoke, smog4 (0.7%)
Severe Winds4 (0.7%)
Sleet, hail4 (0.7%)
Other (explain in narrative)2 (0.3%)

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

Lighting

Daylight371 (61.7%)
↑17.4%prior 316
Dark - roadway not lighted140 (23.3%)
↑23.9%prior 113
Dark - roadway lighted57 (9.5%)
↑58.3%prior 36
Dusk15 (2.5%)
↑25.0%prior 12
Dawn13 (2.2%)
↑8.3%prior 12
Dark - unknown roadway lighting5 (0.8%)
↓-16.7%prior 6

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

Road Surface

Dry423 (70.5%)
↑21.6%prior 348
Ice/frost60 (10.0%)
↑62.2%prior 37
Snow57 (9.5%)
↑50.0%prior 38
Wet41 (6.8%)
↓-14.6%prior 48
Gravel13 (2.2%)
↓-18.8%prior 16
Slush5 (0.8%)
↓-28.6%prior 7
Other (explain in narrative)1 (0.2%)

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

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford and Chevrolet were the two most common vehicle makes involved in crashes in both periods, and the number of crashes involving these makes increased from 2020 to 2021. The age distribution of persons involved in crashes was largely consistent year-over-year. The 26-34 and 35-44 age groups saw a slight increase in their share of total persons involved, while the proportion of those aged 16-20 decreased from 13.9% in 2020 to 12.1% in 2021.

Top Vehicle Makes (1,051 vehicles)

1
FORD145 (13.8%)
↑11.5%prior 130
2
CHEV114 (10.8%)
↑6.5%prior 107
3
CHEVROLET93 (8.8%)
↑47.6%prior 63
4
FREIGHTLINER52 (4.9%)
↑92.6%prior 27
5
GMC43 (4.1%)
↑104.8%prior 21
6
KIA32 (3%)
↑190.9%prior 11
7
JEEP31 (2.9%)
↑19.2%prior 26
8
DODGE31 (2.9%)
↑40.9%prior 22
9
DODG30 (2.9%)
→0.0%prior 30
10
TOYT29 (2.8%)
↑11.5%prior 26

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

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

Sex Distribution (870 persons with recorded sex)

Male553 (63.6%)
↑19.7%prior 462
Female317 (36.4%)
↑8.9%prior 291

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: 692
  • Total persons involved: 1,321
  • Total vehicles involved: 1,051

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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