A 50-year-old West Union woman died Wednesday night after a semi-truck attempting to pass another vehicle collided head-on with her car on U.S. 68 in Brown County, closing the highway for several hours overnight. Brenda Watson was killed at the scene of the crash, which happened around 9 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 68 and Hamer Road in Pleasant Township.
According to a preliminary investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, as reported by FOX19, a 2019 Volvo tractor-trailer was passing a northbound vehicle when it struck Watson's 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, which was traveling southbound, head-on. The 39-year-old semi driver, who is from West Chester Township, was not hurt in the crash. The cause of the wreck remains under investigation by authorities, and troopers have not yet said whether citations or charges will follow.
A Corridor With a Troubled Safety Record
The stretch of U.S. 68 where Watson died sits within a corridor that has drawn scrutiny before. A June 2018 left-of-center crash on the same route killed a 41-year-old woman, and an August 2021 fatal wreck in the 11000 block prompted state troopers to launch targeted traffic enforcement in the area, according to prior reporting cited in Ohio Highway Patrol safety records. U.S. 68 recorded 139 crashes in Brown County in 2025 alone and 389 total crashes between 2023 and 2025, making it the county's highest-crash route ahead of State Route 32 and State Route 125, per Ohio Highway Patrol data.
Commercial vehicle-involved crashes in the county also ticked upward, rising to 42 recorded incidents in 2025 from 40 in 2023 and 36 in 2024, the same state figures show. Statewide, commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities climbed to 154 in 2025, compared with 150 in both 2024 and 2023, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol crash summaries.
What Ohio Law Says About Passing Near Intersections
Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.29 bars drivers from crossing to the left of the center line to overtake another vehicle unless the opposing lane is clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic for a distance sufficient to complete the pass safely. A related statute, Section 4511.30, explicitly forbids driving on the left side of the road when approaching within 100 feet of an intersection, a restriction directly relevant here since the crash occurred at the junction of U.S. 68 and Hamer Road.
Ohio Highway Patrol safety evaluations released in 2026 found that driving left of center and leaving the roadway were leading contributing factors in fatal crashes statewide, with lane departures accounting for roughly 23% to 26% of all traffic fatalities in Ohio. Nationally, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration crash data show that multi-vehicle collisions between vehicles in transport account for approximately 73% of all fatal large truck crashes.
Should investigators determine the crash resulted from a traffic violation or reckless operation, Ohio law under Revised Code Section 2903.06 allows for charges ranging from vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor, up to vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide, both felonies carrying mandatory license suspensions and potential prison time. No charges have been announced, and the investigation into Wednesday night's crash remains ongoing.
U.S. 68 reopened after being closed for several hours overnight, a dispatcher confirmed. The crash marks the latest fatal head-on collision involving a semi-truck in Brown County; Hoodline reported on a similar wreck on U.S. 62 in November 2024 that killed a Russellville man.
