Automobile crashes causing major injuries and fatalities in the Greater Des Moines region have declined over the past decade, though crash rates vary in different parts of the metro, a new report finds.

Crash hot spots are pinpointed on a detailed map as part of the 2015 crash analysis report, Safety of Our Streets, which the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization developed using the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Crash Mapping Analysis Tool (CMAT). The report outlines approaches for making streets safer by slowing traffic, such as narrowing travel lanes, on-street parking, street trees and smaller intersection corners.

See the full Safety of Our Streets report for maps and detailed findings. Highlights include:

• The region averaged 202 major injuries annually from 2010 to 2014 as result of automobile accidents
  • The total number of major injuries peaked in 2004 at 298
• The region averaged 30 fatalities annually from 2010 to 2014 as result of automobile accidents
• Crashes with major injuries and fatalities are more frequent in Environmental Justice areas, which include persons 65 years old and older, persons with disabilities, persons with limited‐English proficiency, non‐white population, persons in poverty, carless households and single heads of households with children.

For more information, call or email the MPO staff at 515-334-0075 or info@dmampo.org.