Two adults were seriously injured Friday night after being struck by a vehicle while crossing 86th Street north of Aurora Boulevard in Urbandale, Iowa. Both pedestrians were transported to a local hospital following the collision, and the driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and was not injured.
According to NewsRadio 1040 WHO, the two adults were crossing the roadway when they were struck, and the Urbandale Police Department opened an investigation into the crash. The driver remained at the scene, the station reports, and the case remains under investigation as authorities work to determine exactly how the collision unfolded.
The Crash Location
The crash occurred on 86th Street north of Aurora Boulevard in Urbandale. The Urbandale Police Department's own headquarters is located at 3740 86th Street, placing the investigating agency directly along the same arterial roadway where the collision occurred, according to the City of Urbandale.
Notably, the crash comes after the city completed a Complete Streets infrastructure overhaul along nearby Aurora Avenue between 86th Street and 70th Street in 2025. That project converted a four-lane road into a two-to-three-lane configuration with center turn lanes and on-street bike lanes, aimed at slowing vehicle speeds and improving pedestrian crossings. City safety information cited by Urbandale says national studies find road diets reduce crashes by 19 to 47 percent.
What Iowa Law Says About Crosswalk Right-of-Way
Iowa law lays out different obligations depending on exactly where a pedestrian crosses. Under Iowa Code Section 321.327, drivers must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection where traffic signals aren't operating, and failing to do so is a simple misdemeanor.
But the law cuts both ways. Iowa Code Section 321.328 addresses pedestrian compliance with intersection traffic signals, while Section 321.329 requires pedestrians crossing outside a marked crosswalk to yield to vehicles, as outlined by the Law Group of Iowa. The statutes set out separate obligations for pedestrians and drivers.
Separately, Iowa's Pedestrian Conveyance Law, House File 2568, took effect July 1, 2024, and updated Section 321.327 to extend the same crosswalk right-of-way protections to bicyclists and users of human-powered or electric personal conveyances, according to Ottumwa Radio.
Potential Penalties If Charges Follow
Iowa Code Section 321.482A provides for additional penalties, per the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. No citations have been reported in connection with Friday's crash, and the investigation remains ongoing.
More on the Urbandale Crash
The two adults were crossing 86th Street when they were struck by a vehicle.
Both pedestrians were transported to a local hospital, and the investigation continues.
The identities and current conditions of the two injured pedestrians have not been released, and it is not yet known whether vehicle speed or lighting conditions played a role in the collision. The Urbandale Police Department's investigation into the crash continues.
