3/19/2010 11:37:00 AM AG moves to beef-up road law New offence pushed forward after court case that saw driver walk free after death crash
* File photo by Kageaki Smith. A new offence of causing death by careless driving could become law within months. Attorney General Kim Wilson said the new charge could attract a jail sentence for careless drivers who kill.
* File photo. Creation of the new offence was prompted by the Court of Appeal’s decision to quash the conviction against expatriate Luke Armstrong for causing death by dangerous driving.
A new offence of causing death by careless driving could become law in Bermuda within months.
Attorney General Kim Wilson told the Bermuda Sun the new charge could attract a jail sentence for careless drivers who kill.
Ms Wilson said she believed the new charge was needed to fill a gap in existing road traffic legislation.
At present drivers who cause death can only be charged with manslaughter or causing death by dangerous driving.
If their driving is not dangerous they can only be charged with careless driving - which attracts a maximum penalty of a fine.
The new charge would fill the gap in between the two offences.
Anyone convicted of the offence could be given a sentence ranging from community punishment to imprisonment.
Ms Wilson revealed she wrote to Premier Dr. Ewart Brown on Wednesday to suggest fast tracking the law change, which she has advocated for some time.
She said the e-mail was prompted by the Court of Appeal's decision to quash Luke Armstrong's conviction for causing death by dangerous driving. Winston 'Yogi' Burrows died in the crash which also badly injured two passengers.
Mr. Armstrong's lawyer, Saul Froomkin QC, had argued that his client's driving had not been dangerous within the meaning of the current statute.
And he told Court of Appeal judges that the trial judge had wrongly equated careless driving with dangerous driving.
'Needs to be sorted out'
The Attorney General told the Bermuda Sun: "This has been a lacuna in our law from some time and it needs to be sorted out.
"There is a very high standard that needs to be achieved for driving to be dangerous.
"This new offence would lower that threshold and provide more appropriate sentences for people who commit the offence.
"I am proposing that we follow the U.K. model which has been in place now for over a year."
In England the offence of causing death by dangerous driving became law in August 2008.
It carries a maximum of five years in prison and has been used to prosecute drivers who cause death but whose driving is careless rather than dangerous.
Ms Wilson added: "Obviously this change in the law would have to go through the appropriate processes and procedures before it becomes law.
"The Premier has agreed with the proposal and we are now looking at ways of making it happen.
"But I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the new charge will become part of legislation for the third term."
