Yes - if you were not more than 50% at fault. Iowa does not use the made-up insurance rule that "any fault kills your claim." Under Iowa's modified comparative fault rule, you can still recover damages as long as your share of fault is 50% or less. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing.

In the next 24 hours: Get the road evidence before it disappears. Spring thaw potholes on streets around Iowa City can be patched fast, and that helps the defense. Photograph the pothole, broken pavement, frost-heave area, skid marks, debris, your tire and wheel damage, and the full scene. If this happened on a state road like Highway 1 or I-80, note that. If it was a city street, note the exact block and lane.

Get the crash report number from the Iowa City Police Department or the responding agency. If chest pain sent you to the ER and you were told you have a sternum fracture or chest trauma, keep those records together now. Don't let an insurer turn a serious injury into "just bruising."

In the next week: Report the road defect to the right agency: Iowa City Public Works for city streets, Johnson County Secondary Roads for county roads, or the Iowa DOT for state highways. That report can matter if they later claim they had no notice.

Ask for any 911 audio, body-cam, dash-cam, and nearby business video before it is overwritten. Pothole crashes often get blamed on "driving too fast" or "worn tires" even when another driver swerved, stopped short, or lost control first.

In the next month: Track every bill, mileage, and missed activity. Iowa is an at-fault insurance state, and the other driver may only carry the minimum 20/40/15 coverage, which can be too little for a serious injury.

If they assign you, for example, 30% fault, that does not end the case. It means a $100,000 claim would be reduced to $70,000. What matters is pushing back with photos, repair records, medical proof, and the road-condition evidence before the "you caused it" story hardens.