ONLY ONLINE: Lawsuit filed over cattle truck accident on I-75 last year

A Lexington man and a Tennessee woman are suing a Kentucky transportation company and its driver in connection with the September crash of a cattle truck along I-75 in Whitley County.

Cheyanne Baker and Sarah Cecil filed suit Friday in Whitley Circuit Court against Child Transport LLC and James Harrison.
About 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 9, a southbound cattle truck overturned near the 23-mile marker on I-75 releasing about 34 cattle.

The cattle were scattered along a five-mile stretch of highway between Exits 15 and 25 causing eight motor vehicle accidents, including one involving a Whitley County EMS ambulance, according to Emergency Management Director Danny Moses.

Animal control officers and volunteer firefighters spent much of the next few days tracking down the cattle, 10 of which had to be euthanized.

Baker and Cecil were traveling in a vehicle on I-75 when their vehicle collided with a cow and/or cattle that had been released onto the roadway from the Child Transport truck that James Harrison was driving, the lawsuit noted.

Harrison was cited at the scene for having a false record of duty status, according to the lawsuit.

Baker and Cecil suffered "severe and permanent" personal injuries which caused them to incur medical expenses and impaired their ability to earn money, the lawsuit alleges.

"The conduct of the defendant, James Harrison, and of the defendant, Child Transport LLC, in failing to abide by certain applicable laws, rules, regulations, policies, standards and/or ordinances as set forth above, constitutes such gross negligence and such wanton and reckless disregard for the rights of the plaintiffs, Cheyanne Baker and Sarah Cecil, as to justify punitive damages against both defendants," the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit asks for judgment against both Harrison and Child Transport for compensatory and punitive damages, a trial by jury, court costs and interest on any judgment.

So far no response has been filed to the lawsuit.