Road safety experts believe they are winning the war on the Island's drink-driving problem.

They believe more people are getting caught, and the message that driving under the influence is anti-social is finally getting through to the motoring public.

And they say the community and courts are less becoming less and less tolerant of people who drink and drive -- forcing the tipplers off the road.

The success is attributed to an increased Police presence and the anti-social nature of driving after drinking, according to Road Safety Officer Roxanne Christopher.

"Before it was more accepted but now it is becoming a major taboo. We still have a long way to go but we have come a long way, where it is socially not acceptable as it was five to ten years ago.

"More people are getting arrested and more people are getting greater fines.

The community and courts are becoming less tolerant.'' She was speaking after Police released the latest drink driving statistics for the third quarter of the year.

Figures just released, from July to September, show rises in arrests and breath test failures.

And on the year to date, there was an increase of 26 percent on the number of people failing breathlyser tests compared to the same time last year.

In addition, the amount of motorists arrested on suspicion of drink driving rose by 20 percent compared to last year.

With this year so far just 13 short of the total breathlyser failures for 1999, and the festive period still to come, it is likely Bermuda could top last year with ease.

The increases in the third quarter are also up on the previous three months of the year and 27 of the incidents involved accidents.

Arrests rose by 17 percent to 102, failures were up by 13 percent to 58 and refusals rose by 100 percent to 24.

Ms Christopher said she was happy that less people were slipping through the net, and a higher Police profile combined with a variation in their surveillance locations was having success.

She added that bartenders were now becoming more responsible, stopping dispensing drinks when they knew their customers had had enough.

And friends and colleagues were becoming less patient with people who insisted on driving after drinking, she said.

The figures, released by Police yesterday, show that men accounted for 89 arrests, 49 failures, 20 passes and 20 refusals, whereas 13 women were apprehended, nine subsequently failed the test and four refused.

Young people figured heavily in the numbers, with 31 of those arrested aged between 22 and 30, and 24 aged between 31 and 40.

The highest reading was 301 mgs of alcohol in 100 mls of blood, a shocking 3.7 times times the legal limit.