A lawsuit involving the traffic death of Mallory Pyles Baldschun at the foot of Lookout Mountain says the tractor-trailer that struck her vehicle was speeding and 90 minutes late for a delivery.
Ms. Baldschun died in the head-on collision at the S curves of Ochs Highway on Feb. 17, 2018. Her three-year-old daughter survived, but suffered burns to her face and hands.
Peter Baldschun, husband of Mallory Baldschun, is suing driver James Andrew Wilson II and the company he was driving for - Action Resources LLC. The suit is also brought against the German firm that owned and leased the trailer - CABB North America and CABB GMBH.
The suit says Wilson was making a delivery of over 4,600 gallons of acid to a chemical plant in Chattanooga. It says he was due at the plant at 9 a.m. The wreck happened at 10:30 a.m.
Wilson was charged with speeding, failing to maintain lane and failing to exercise due care.
The suit says Ms. Baldschun had gone for a hike with her young daughter that Saturday morning and was driving back up the mountain to their home.
The truck clipped two other vehicles before striking the Baldschun vehicle head-on. It was fully in the lane of oncoming traffic when the wreck happened. The lawsuit includes a still shot taken from a camera on the truck that is just before impact.
It says the truck landed atop the Baldschun vehicle, but the daughter "miraculously" survived. However, some of the acid dripped on her before she was rescued by a "Good Samaritan" who lived nearby.
The load of acid was coming from Harris County, Tex. The suit was first filed in state court there. It was moved to Federal Court in Harris County and then to Federal Court in Chattanooga.
It asks for compensatory and punitive damages.
Plaintiff attorneys are James Butler Jr. of Columbus, Ga., and Carson Royal of Rossville, Ga.