Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

2,170 CRASHES IN
IOWA, IA
2020

All metrics benchmarked against2019

In 2020, Woodbury County recorded 2,170 total crashes, a 12.3% decrease from the 2,473 crashes reported in 2019. This downward trend was accompanied by a decrease in both total injuries, which fell from 816 to 708, and fatalities, which dropped from 12 to 10. The most significant contributing factor in both years was "Followed too close," though its count also decreased from 232 to 195 incidents.

2,170

▼ -12.3%was 2,473

Total Crash Events

10

▼ -16.7%was 12

Persons Killed

708

▼ -13.2%was 816

Persons Injured

9

▼ -25.0%was 12

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (10) 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 · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Traffic crashes in Woodbury County showed a downward trend from 2019 to 2020. The total number of crashes decreased by 12.3%, from 2,473 to 2,170. Correspondingly, total injuries declined by 13.2% (from 816 to 708), and the number of people killed fell from 12 to 10.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

1

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 2↓-50.0%

0

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 3↓-100.0%

9

Motorists Killed

Prior: 7↑28.6%

0

Other Killed

Prior: 0→0.0%

16

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 24↓-33.3%

6

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 15↓-60.0%

685

Motorists Injured

Prior: 772↓-11.3%

1

Other Injured

Prior: 5↓-80.0%

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year. Friday was the peak day for crashes in both 2019 (436 crashes) and 2020 (379 crashes). Similarly, the 3 p.m. hour was the peak time in both periods, though the count increased from 217 crashes in 2019 to 240 in 2020.

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes saw some shifts between 2019 and 2020. The number of fatal crashes decreased from 12 to 9, and the corresponding fatal crash rate dropped from 0.49% to 0.41%. While the absolute number of serious injury crashes remained unchanged at 36, their proportion of total crashes increased slightly from 1.5% to 1.7%. Crashes resulting in possible injury saw a notable decrease in count from 524 to 447.

Severity is per crash event (most severe injury). 9 fatal crash events resulted in 10 persons killed.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal9fatal crashes0.4%
↓-25.0%prior 12
Serious Injury36serious injury crashes1.7%
→0.0%prior 36
Minor Injury196minor injury crashes9%
↑1.6%prior 193
Possible Injury447possible injury crashes20.6%
↓-14.7%prior 524
No Injury1,482no injury crashes68.3%
↓-13.2%prior 1,708

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

"Followed too close" was the leading contributing factor in both periods, though its count decreased from 232 incidents in 2019 to 195 in 2020. The factor "Ran off road - left" saw a significant reduction in incidents, falling from 207 (the second-ranked factor in 2019) to 145 in 2020. Conversely, crashes attributed to "Ran Traffic Signal" increased in count from 133 to 146, moving it from the eighth-ranked factor in 2019 to the third-ranked in 2020.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Followed too close195 (9%)↓-15.9%prior 232
FTYROW: From stop sign166 (7.6%)↓-7.3%prior 179
Ran Traffic Signal146 (6.7%)↑9.8%prior 133
Ran off road - left145 (6.7%)↓-30.0%prior 207
Animal135 (6.2%)↓-5.6%prior 143
Other (explain in narrative): Other132 (6.1%)↓-13.2%prior 152
Driving too fast for conditions116 (5.3%)↓-32.9%prior 173
Lost Control110 (5.1%)↑19.6%prior 92
FTYROW: Making left turn104 (4.8%)↓-23.0%prior 135
Ran Stop Sign88 (4.1%)↓-12.9%prior 101

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

The proportion of crashes occurring in clear weather increased from 59.1% in 2019 to 63.0% in 2020, while the share of crashes on dry road surfaces also rose from 65.7% to 70.4%. Correspondingly, the share of crashes on wet roads decreased from 12.5% of the total in 2019 to 10.1% in 2020. Lighting conditions remained relatively stable, with about two-thirds of crashes in both years happening during daylight hours (66.0% in 2019 and 66.5% in 2020).

Weather

Clear1,366 (66.8%)
↓-6.6%prior 1,462
Cloudy441 (21.6%)
↓-18.0%prior 538
Snow107 (5.2%)
↓-17.7%prior 130
Rain61 (3.0%)
↓-37.8%prior 98
Freezing rain/drizzle37 (1.8%)
↓-41.3%prior 63
Blowing Snow24 (1.2%)
↓-35.1%prior 37
Fog, smoke, smog5 (0.2%)
↓-37.5%prior 8
Severe Winds2 (0.1%)
Blowing sand, soil, dirt2 (0.1%)
Sleet, hail1 (0.0%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight1,442 (70.1%)
↓-11.7%prior 1,633
Dark - roadway lighted369 (17.9%)
↓-16.1%prior 440
Dark - roadway not lighted137 (6.7%)
↓-12.7%prior 157
Dusk59 (2.9%)
↑11.3%prior 53
Dawn41 (2.0%)
↓-25.5%prior 55
Dark - unknown roadway lighting9 (0.4%)
↑12.5%prior 8

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry1,528 (74.6%)
↓-6.0%prior 1,625
Wet219 (10.7%)
↓-29.1%prior 309
Snow156 (7.6%)
↓-12.8%prior 179
Ice/frost94 (4.6%)
↓-40.9%prior 159
Slush37 (1.8%)
↓-21.3%prior 47
Gravel10 (0.5%)
↓-23.1%prior 13
Other (explain in narrative)2 (0.1%)
Mud, dirt2 (0.1%)

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Ford and Chevrolet were the top two vehicle makes involved in crashes in both 2019 and 2020, with the count for both makes decreasing in 2020 in line with the overall trend. An analysis of the age distribution of persons involved in crashes shows a notable shift in representation for certain groups. The proportion of individuals in the 21-25 age group increased from 9.3% of all persons in 2019 to 11.3% in 2020. Conversely, the share of persons aged 65 and older decreased from 9.5% to 7.8% over the same period.

Top Vehicle Makes (4,020 vehicles)

1
FORD589 (14.7%)
↓-13.5%prior 681
2
CHEV418 (10.4%)
↓-16.7%prior 502
3
CHEVROLET319 (7.9%)
↓-7.3%prior 344
4
JEEP199 (5%)
↓-2.5%prior 204
5
NR165 (4.1%)
↓-21.8%prior 211
6
GMC160 (4%)
↓-4.8%prior 168
7
HOND152 (3.8%)
↑26.7%prior 120
8
KIA133 (3.3%)
↑3.1%prior 129
9
DODG130 (3.2%)
↓-18.2%prior 159
10
TOYT125 (3.1%)
↓-30.2%prior 179

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

1,151 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (3,397 persons with recorded sex)

Male1,947 (57.3%)
↓-7.6%prior 2,108
Female1,450 (42.7%)
↓-13.5%prior 1,677

Source: Iowa Crash Data · ArcGIS Open Data · 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 · 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: 2020-01-01 through 2020-12-31
  • Report generated: September 9, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2020-01-01 through 2020-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: iowa, IA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 2,170
  • Total persons involved: 5,414
  • Total vehicles involved: 4,020

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: 2020." Published September 9, 2026. Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31. Data source: Iowa Crash Data, ArcGIS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2020-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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Woodbury County, IA Crash Report — 2020 | ThatCarHitMe.com