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The Iowa Department of Transportation has launched information related to highway crashes.  Michael Pawlovich with IDOT says this data can be helpful to organizations and people not part of IDOT such as cities, counties and school districts.  He notes the information does not include specific accident information, but summarizes the accidents which could lead to safety trends.

Pawlovich says the number of accidents that happen in rural areas versus urban areas is about the same.  He says speeding related accidents are the most prevalent type of accident across the state.

The data is currently available through 2008 and in Washington County, the number of accidents from 2004 to 2008 totaled over 1300 with almost 600 injuries.  To view the information for the entire state, click here.