Bermuda's motoring laws will be changed in the next session of Parliament following the Luke Armstrong death crash case, the Attorney General pledged last night.

The news was welcomed by the family of Winston (Yogi) Burrows, the man who died when his car was in a head-on collision with Mr. Armstrong's truck.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Armstrong, a British expat, crossed the centre line of the road before the early-hours collision in Warwick last April.

He had no license to drive the truck, which belonged to his employer, Arctic Air Conditioning.

He also left the scene of the accident, in which two of Mr. Burrows' passengers suffered serious injuries and admitted to Police he'd been drinking that night.

Mr. Armstrong, 25, was convicted in November of causing the death of Mr. Burrows, 44, through dangerous driving.

But he walked free from prison four months into his 15 month sentence, after being cleared on appeal this week.

Defence lawyer Saul Froomkin QC successfully argued that Mr. Armstrong was not guilty of dangerous driving.

He suggested the case might fall within the bracket of a lesser offence driving without due care.

However, Bermuda does not have a charge of "death by careless driving" on its lawbooks, unlike the UK.

Mr. Froomkin said the trial judge, Norma Wade-Miller, wrongly equated careless driving with dangerous driving when she directed the jury, but they are not the same things in law.

Prosecutor Cindy Clarke remarked during the appeal that there was "definitely a need for some clarity" in respect of the current law, since there are more cases coming up.

And responding last night to concerns raised by Mr. Burrows' family, Attorney General Kim Wilson said she and Premier Ewart Brown agree reform is needed.

She told The Royal Gazette: "I spoke with the Premier yesterday concerning the need to amend the Traffic Offences Act to address the current lacuna (gap) in the law. The Premier, as Minister of Transport (under) whose remit the Traffic Offences Act applies, has agreed that amendments are necessary.

"He has already taken steps to address this with my assistance, with the intention of having amendments placed before Parliament during the upcoming third term."

She explained: "Currently the law has a gap between the higher standard required to amount to dangerous or reckless driving and that of due care, a lower standard.

"I know the Police are still troubled by the legislative lacuna (gap) because of the cases where the death was caused by a standard of driving that will not or did not amount to reckless or dangerous driving.

"In other words, there is a disparity between the standard of driving required for the offence of due care i.e that the driver departed from the standard required of a reasonable and prudent driver, and the standard required for the offence of dangerous or reckless driving.

"The existing lacuna continues to be a problem as there is not an offence of causing death by (due care) careless driving, and bearing in mind the increase of road fatalities, I am confident that the proposed amendment will be considered with a view to amending the legislation accordingly."

Responding to the announcement by the Attorney General, victim Mr. Burrow's aunt Sheila Brown said: "That is good news. I'm pleased they have reacted so quickly to this. It's probably long overdue but sometimes the very worst thing has to happen before things change."

Ms Brown had spoken of her pain over the case in an interview with this newspaper prior to the news from the Attorney General. She had vowed to press lawmakers for changes, saying: "We're devastated. Devastated because it's his life. Winston's life. It's like he meant nothing. It's so frustrating. His siblings and close friends are so upset."

Asked about her feelings towards Mr. Armstrong she replied: "He might have gone away from Bermuda, but he will carry this for the rest of his life."