What happened
Jace Geissinger, 19, of McCausland and Nolan Crowell, 18, of Davenport were killed late Saturday night, September 26, when a car on a stop-controlled road failed to stop and struck the car they were riding in at a rural intersection in northern Scott County, between McCausland and Long Grove, according to the Scott County Sheriff's Office.
The crash happened at about 11:35 p.m. near 210th Avenue and 287th Street. Mr. Geissinger was driving a white 2009 Mazda 6 north on 210th Avenue, which is also known as Utica Ridge Road; Mr. Crowell was his passenger. A black 2011 Chevrolet Impala was traveling east on 290th Street. According to the sheriff's office, traffic on 290th Street has a stop sign at the intersection, while traffic on 210th Avenue has the right of way. The Impala failed to stop and struck the Mazda, and the force of the collision pushed both vehicles into the northeast corner of the intersection and onto private property. (WQAD; WQAD; KWQC)
Both young men in the Mazda were pronounced dead at the scene. The Impala was being driven by a 17-year-old boy from Clinton, who had three passengers: a 19-year-old woman, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. All four were taken to the hospital and were reported in stable condition. (KWQC)
The Scott County Sheriff's Office, the Iowa State Patrol, Scott County MEDIC EMS, the McCausland and Princeton fire departments and a MEDFORCE medical helicopter all responded. The sheriff's office Accident Investigation Team is investigating. No citations or charges have been announced. (WQAD; KWQC)
Our condolences
Jace Geissinger and Nolan Crowell were 19 and 18 years old. They were on a country road on a Saturday night, on the road that had the right of way, and they did not come home. There is no loss harder for a family to carry than a child's, and two families in McCausland and Davenport are carrying it this week, along with everyone who knew these young men from school, from work, from growing up together.
We are praying for the Geissinger and Crowell families, and for their friends. We also hope for a full recovery for the four young people in the other car, whose families are living through a terrible week of their own. And we are grateful to the deputies, firefighters, medics and helicopter crew who went out to that intersection in the middle of the night.
Safety context
Rural intersections controlled by a stop sign on only one road are among the most ordinary places on the map, and among the most dangerous. According to the Federal Highway Administration's intersection safety program, roughly one-quarter of traffic fatalities and about one-half of all traffic injuries in the United States each year are attributed to intersections. Of the 12,036 traffic deaths involving an intersection in 2022, 7,832 happened at unsignalized intersections — stop- and yield-controlled crossings like this one.
Inexperience raises the stakes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Traffic Safety Facts: Young Drivers, 2023 Data found that drivers 15 to 20 years old were 5.1 percent of all licensed drivers in 2023 but 8.9 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes, and that 5,588 people were killed that year in crashes involving a young driver.
A few habits help on rural roads at night:
- At a stop sign, stop completely and look twice. Iowa law (Iowa Code § 321.322) requires a driver at a stop sign to stop where there is a view of approaching traffic and to yield to any vehicle close enough to be an immediate hazard. At night, on an unfamiliar road, a stop sign can come up quickly. Slow down early.
- Parents: talk about passengers. Every extra friend in the car is another distraction for a new driver. Iowa's graduated licensing rules put limits on passengers for exactly that reason.
- On the through road, stay alert near side roads. Right of way does not stop a car that doesn't stop, but watching for headlights at a side road can sometimes buy a second.
The rights of families after a crash like this
In general terms, when a driver fails to stop at a stop sign and causes a crash that kills someone, the family of the person killed has a wrongful death claim. That claim runs against the driver who caused the crash and, often, against the owner of the car and the insurance that covers it. In Iowa, a wrongful death claim is brought through the estate of the person who died. Under Iowa Code § 633.336, damages for lost services and support are divided by the court among the surviving spouse, children and parents. Separately, Iowa Code § 613.15A lets parents recover for the loss of the services, companionship and society of a child who dies. That includes an adult child, which matters here because both young men were 18 or older.
What can be said about this crash, conditionally, is this. If the sheriff's account is accurate — that the eastbound Impala failed to stop at the stop sign and struck the Mazda, which had the right of way — then the Geissinger and Crowell families may have wrongful death claims against the Impala's driver. Nothing published suggests that Mr. Geissinger did anything other than drive through an intersection where he had the right of way. Iowa's comparative fault law, Iowa Code § 668.3, would reduce a recovery only by any share of fault assigned to the person who died, and would bar it only if that share were greater than the combined fault of those the claim is brought against. Mr. Crowell, a passenger, would ordinarily bear no share of the driving fault at all.
A few points are specific to this crash and worth a family's attention now:
The car's owner may be responsible, too. The Impala was driven by a 17-year-old. Under Iowa Code § 321.493, when a car is driven with its owner's consent and damage is done through the driver's negligence, the owner is liable for that damage. Who owned the Impala has not been reported. When a teenager is driving, the owner is often a parent, and the owner's auto policy is usually the first place a family's claim is directed.
The investigation will look at more than the stop sign. Iowa's graduated licensing law, Iowa Code § 321.180B, requires a driver with an intermediate license to carry no more passengers than there are seat belts. For the first six months, unless a parent waived it, the driver may carry no more than one unrelated passenger under 18. Nothing published says what license the Impala's driver held, how long he had held it, or whether his passengers were related to him, so no one can say whether any of this applies. It is one of the things a careful investigation will answer.
Two deaths and one policy. When a crash kills two people, the at-fault driver's liability limits can be far smaller than the loss. Iowa requires every auto policy to include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejected it in writing (Iowa Code § 516A.1). That means the policy on the Mazda, and possibly policies in each young man's own household, may provide more coverage. Families often don't know this coverage exists until someone looks. Iowa's general deadline for these claims is two years under Iowa Code § 614.1(2).
Families should also expect contact from insurance companies, sometimes within days. It is almost never in a grieving family's interest to give a recorded statement or sign anything before they understand what the investigation found.
Learn more about your rights: families facing a loss like this may want to read about what a wrongful death claim covers when a young person is killed, about who can be held responsible when another driver fails to stop, and about how Iowa law handles deadlines, fault and a parent’s claim for an adult child.
How I help families in crisis
No parent is prepared for the week after a call like this one. There is a funeral to plan, and a family to hold together, and then insurance paperwork starts arriving on top of it. My job is to take that part off the family's shoulders so they can grieve.
In practice, that means getting the sheriff's reconstruction report as soon as it is available and following it through to any charges. It means finding out who owned the Impala and identifying every policy that might answer for what happened, including underinsured motorist coverage on the families' own policies. It means opening the estate correctly so the wrongful death claim is brought by the right person and on time. And it means taking up the shield with every adjuster, so no parent in mourning is pressured into a statement or a signature.
Over my career I have recovered more than $23 million for injured people and grieving families, earned countless five-star reviews from clients and endorsements from fellow attorneys, and been honored as part of a Best of Omaha personal injury team in 2025 and 2026.
If you are one of these families, I would be glad to talk whenever you feel ready. That conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing, and if we work together, my fee comes only out of what I recover for you.
Frequently asked questions
- What happened in the crash at 210th Avenue near McCausland, Iowa?
- At about 11:35 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, 2026, an eastbound Chevrolet Impala on stop-controlled 290th Street failed to stop and struck a northbound Mazda on 210th Avenue near 287th Street, between McCausland and Long Grove, according to the Scott County Sheriff's Office. Both young men in the Mazda died at the scene.
- What are the rights of families after a crash like this?
- If the sheriff's account is accurate, the families of the young men who died may have wrongful death claims against the driver who failed to stop, and possibly against the car's owner. Iowa also lets parents recover for the loss of an adult child's companionship, and underinsured motorist coverage may add protection.
- How does Frank Younes help families after something like this?
- Frank takes the legal weight off the family: following the sheriff's reconstruction, identifying the car's owner and every insurance policy, opening the estate so the wrongful death claim is brought correctly and on time, and handling every adjuster so no grieving parent is pressured. The first conversation is free.
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