Cedar Rapids Police report no traffic fatalities in 2025

CEDAR RAPIDS — There were no traffic fatalities in Cedar Rapids in 2025, according to data released Wednesday by the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

“This is a testament to safer driving practices by motorists,” the release states. “It’s too soon to credit any one particular behavior, but the new hands-free law may play a part in this accomplishment.”

The lack of traffic fatalities is an improvement over 2024, when there were four traffic deaths in Cedar Rapids, and a significant drop from 2023, when there were 17 deaths. There was more than one instance that year of multiple fatalities from a single crash, according to the report. In 2022, Cedar Rapids recorded eight traffic fatalities, and in 2021, there were five.

“The City recognizes that serious and life-altering harm can occur in traffic crashes even when they do not meet the State’s definition of a traffic fatality, and that the impacts of these incidents on those involved can be profound,” the report from the city states.

In Iowa, a fatal injury is defined as “any injury that results in death within 30 days (720 hours) after the motor vehicle crash in which the injury occurred,” according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s crash reporting guide.

The lack of fatalities in Cedar Rapids mirrors statewide trends in 2025. Last year was the first year since 1925 that the state had fewer than 300 total traffic fatalities, a success state officials attributed partially to the hands-free driving law that went into effect in July. In total in 2025, 159 people died in fatal crashes in Iowa.

January Crime statistics

Wednesday’s traffic fatalities announcement was made in conjunction with the Cedar Rapids Police Department’s monthly crime statistics for January, which showed a decrease in most of tracked crimes compared to January last year.

Of the six categories that are tracked and released monthly — homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, theft from vehicle, theft of vehicle, and shots fired — only burglary and theft from vehicle didn’t decrease when compared to January 2025. Thefts from vehicle stayed the same, at 24 thefts in the month, but still is down from the five-year average of 33. Burglaries increased, from 20 in January 2025 to 24 this year, but are still down from the five-year average of 38.

There were no shots fired calls in January, which is the first time a month has passed without shots fired in the city since the department began uniform data tracking in 2016, the report states.

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