The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - Car trouble and driving with no headlights may have played a part in a fatal crash Monday morning on the Brent Spence Bridge.

Covington police look over wreckage from a fatal accident on the Brent Spence Bridge. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

Covington Police Lt. Col. Michael Craft said his agency's preliminary investigation showed the driver of a 1991 Dodge Shadow may have been having car trouble and driving without headlights before the car was crushed by a tractor-trailer.

"The semi came up behind it," Lt. Col. Craft said. "The truck driver didn't see it until it was too late."

The 4:30 a.m. accident in the southbound lane of Interstate 75 left the car so badly crushed it took police hours to be certain only one person had died in the wreck. The car's driver, whom police would not identify pending notification of family, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tractor-trailer, driven by Neil Howard, 51, of Middletown, "went up and over the car" in the southbound lane, Lt. Col. Kraft said.

Mr. Howard told police that when he saw the maroon sedan, his rig was blocked in by the retaining wall to the right and by another tractor-trailer in the next lane. He hit the brake, but it was too late. Mr. Howard was not injured in the accident.

The accident was under investigation Monday evening. No charges have been filed.