Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

4,212 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
AUGUST 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstAugust 2022

In August 2023, Iowa recorded 4,212 total traffic crashes, a 1.3% decrease from the 4,266 crashes reported in August 2022. Despite this slight reduction in overall crashes, the number of fatalities saw a significant year-over-year increase. The most notable shift was a 42.4% rise in total fatalities, which climbed from 33 in the prior period to 47 in the current period.

4,212

▼ -1.3%was 4,266

Total Crash Events

47

▲ 42.4%was 33

Persons Killed

1,597

▲ 0.6%was 1,588

Persons Injured

43

▲ 43.3%was 30

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (47) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (43) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash volume in Iowa showed a slight downward trend, decreasing by 1.3% from 4,266 in August 2022 to 4,212 in August 2023. However, this trend of lower volume was contrasted by a sharp increase in crash severity. Total fatalities rose by 42.4% (from 33 to 47), while total injuries remained nearly stable with a 0.6% increase (from 1,588 to 1,597).

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 2↓-100.0%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0→%

44

Motorists Killed

Prior: 31↑41.9%

2

Other Killed

Prior: 0→%

34

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 46↓-26.1%

49

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 42↑16.7%

1,507

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,496↑0.7%

7

Other Injured

Prior: 4↑75.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year. The peak hour for collisions was 4 p.m. in both August 2023 (367 crashes) and August 2022 (389 crashes). The peak day of the week shifted from Wednesday in the prior period (728 crashes) to Thursday in the current period (740 crashes).

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Crash severity worsened significantly compared to the prior year. The number of fatal crashes increased by 43.3%, from 30 to 43, and the corresponding fatality rate rose from 0.7% to 1.0% of all crashes. Crashes resulting in serious injuries also increased from 130 to 142. Conversely, crashes with no reported injuries decreased from 2,886 to 2,792.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 43 fatal crash events resulted in 47 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal43fatal crashes1%
↑43.3%prior 30
Serious Injury142serious injury crashes3.4%
↑9.2%prior 130
Minor Injury524minor injury crashes12.4%
↑5.0%prior 499
Possible Injury711possible injury crashes16.9%
↓-1.4%prior 721
No Injury2,792no injury crashes66.3%
↓-3.3%prior 2,886

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factors remained consistent between the two periods, with 'Followed too close' being the primary cause in both August 2023 (499 crashes) and August 2022 (515 crashes). 'Animal' was the second-most common factor in both years, with nearly identical counts (342 vs. 343). Notably, crashes attributed to 'FTYROW: From stop sign' saw a 21.6% increase in count, rising from 208 to 253 incidents year-over-year.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too close499 (11.8%)↓-3.1%prior 515
Animal342 (8.1%)↓-0.3%prior 343
Other (explain in narrative): Other283 (6.7%)↓-10.4%prior 316
FTYROW: From stop sign253 (6%)↑21.6%prior 208
Ran off road - left230 (5.5%)↓-3.4%prior 238
FTYROW: Making left turn202 (4.8%)↓-8.6%prior 221
Lost Control195 (4.6%)↓-1.5%prior 198
Ran Traffic Signal164 (3.9%)↑1.9%prior 161
Driver Distraction: Other interior distraction159 (3.8%)↑6.7%prior 149
Operating vehicle in an reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner153 (3.6%)↓-1.9%prior 156

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes predominantly occurred on dry roads in clear, daylight conditions in both periods. However, there was a notable decrease in adverse-condition crashes year-over-year; incidents on wet surfaces fell from 329 to 255, and rain-related crashes dropped from 202 to 150. In contrast, the number of crashes occurring in dark conditions (both lighted and unlighted roadways) increased from a combined 663 to 703.

Weather

Clear3,310 (84.2%)
↑3.3%prior 3,204
Cloudy437 (11.1%)
↓-13.6%prior 506
Rain150 (3.8%)
↓-25.7%prior 202
Fog, smoke, smog26 (0.7%)
↑8.3%prior 24
Blowing sand, soil, dirt3 (0.1%)
Other (explain in narrative)3 (0.1%)
↓-66.7%prior 9
Freezing rain/drizzle3 (0.1%)
Severe Winds1 (0.0%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight3,082 (78.1%)
↓-2.2%prior 3,150
Dark - roadway lighted402 (10.2%)
↑5.2%prior 382
Dark - roadway not lighted301 (7.6%)
↑7.1%prior 281
Dusk83 (2.1%)
↑2.5%prior 81
Dawn65 (1.6%)
↑8.3%prior 60
Dark - unknown roadway lighting12 (0.3%)
↓-29.4%prior 17

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry3,581 (90.7%)
↑1.2%prior 3,539
Wet255 (6.5%)
↓-22.5%prior 329
Gravel102 (2.6%)
↑5.2%prior 97
Other (explain in narrative)3 (0.1%)
Mud, dirt3 (0.1%)
Oil2 (0.1%)
Sand1 (0.0%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Vehicle and person demographics remained stable year-over-year. Ford and Chevrolet were the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes in both August 2023 and August 2022. The age distribution of individuals involved in crashes also showed little change, with the 26-34 age group being the most represented in both periods (1,448 persons in 2023 vs. 1,462 in 2022).

Top Vehicle Makes (7,454 vehicles)

1
FORD1,165 (15.6%)
↓-6.3%prior 1,243
2
CHEV967 (13%)
↓-4.4%prior 1,011
3
CHEVROLET423 (5.7%)
↑1.4%prior 417
4
TOYT338 (4.5%)
↓-6.6%prior 362
5
JEEP312 (4.2%)
↑8.3%prior 288
6
HOND290 (3.9%)
↓-2.0%prior 296
7
NISS276 (3.7%)
↑9.1%prior 253
8
GMC257 (3.4%)
↓-0.8%prior 259
9
NR236 (3.2%)
↑10.3%prior 214
10
DODG229 (3.1%)
↓-17.0%prior 276

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Vehicle unit records

1,377 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (6,636 persons with recorded sex)

Male3,843 (57.9%)
↓-2.8%prior 3,955
Female2,793 (42.1%)
↓-2.9%prior 2,877

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · 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: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-08-01 through 2023-08-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 4,212
  • Total persons involved: 10,003
  • Total vehicles involved: 7,454

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: August 2023." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/august-2023-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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