A 57-year-old Crittenden woman has died after a head-on crash on Dixie Highway near Walton, with police saying an 80-year-old driver crossed the center line and struck her car head-on. Sherry Lingar was driving southbound around 8:40 p.m. when the northbound driver's vehicle came into her lane near Green Road, according to Kenton County police.
Lingar was rushed to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Florence, where she later died of her injuries, according to LINK nky. Crittenden sits just south of Walton in Grant County along the U.S. Route 25 corridor, the outlet notes. The crash happened in the 14100 block of Dixie Highway, and WKRC reports that police have not released information about the condition of the 80-year-old driver.
Specialized Crash Team Takes Over Investigation
The Kenton County Police Department has assigned its Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team, known as STAR, to lead the investigation into the collision, per the same LINK nky account. The unit is a specialized reconstruction team that assists municipal and county agencies across Northern Kentucky in fatal or severe traffic incidents, and Kenton County police describe their department as Northern Kentucky's third-busiest agency, one that provides dedicated criminal investigation, drone, and accident reconstruction support across the county, according to a video posted by Kenton County.
Police have said the 80-year-old man was traveling north on Dixie Highway before he crossed the center line near Green Road and struck Lingar's vehicle head-on. What caused the crossover — whether a medical emergency, mechanical failure, speeding, or distraction — remains unclear, and the investigation is ongoing.
State Law Bars Crossing the Center Line
Under Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.340 and 189.345, drivers are required to stay on the right side of the roadway and are barred from crossing the center line into oncoming traffic unless they are passing safely with an unobstructed view, according to Justia Law. Kentucky does not currently require age-based road testing or accelerated license renewal schedules for older drivers, though the state began mandating a vision screening for all drivers upon license renewal starting January 1, 2025, per the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Senior Drivers and a Dangerous Stretch of Highway
The crash adds to a troubling record for this stretch of U.S. 25. A July 2026 single-vehicle motorcycle crash in the 11000 block of Dixie Highway killed a 47-year-old man, LINK nky previously reported. U.S. 25 runs parallel to Interstate 75. Hoodline previously covered a fatal crash on the same road in Walton in 2024.
Older adults face increased crash-death risk and physical vulnerability in high-impact collisions.
