The members of Baroness have slowly been making their way back onstage following the horrific bus accident that severely injured them and their crew. Now it appears that the bus driver is being held accountable in court.
According to BBC News, 39-year-old Norman Markus now faces criminal charges for dangerous driving while transporting Baroness to a gig in Bristol, England. More specifically, Markus is being charged for using a vehicle with defective brakes and breaching a 7.5 ton weight limit. He’s also being charged for insufficient daily and weekly rest periods, as well as for not having the correct license entitlement to drive the coach involved in the crash. The driver is due to appear before Bath Magistrates’ Court on April 5.
As you may recall, both Allen Blickle and Matt Maggion suffered fractured vertebrae in the crash, while John Baizley went through several hours of surgery on his left arm. The incident forced Baroness to cancel the remainder of their 2012 plans, while Baizley and guitarist Peter Adams most recently starting to make appearances onstage. If the driver is truly guilty of said charges, then hopefully justice will be served, but who knew that the driver, and not the bus company that he leased it from, would be found faulty for the brakes and weight limits?
[via Pitchfork and Consequence Of Sound]
