Alco-analyser statistics released yesterday by the Bermuda Police Service show a glimmer of hope in the ongoing war against impaired driving.

The statistics for April to June of this year show 66 arrests were made, 48 people failed the test, 12 refused to take it and six passed.

These figures are down from those recorded between April and June of 1998 when 85 arrests were made, 56 people failed the alco-analyser test, 20 refused to take it and nine people passed.

Meanwhile the number of arrests made in the second quarter of the year were also down on the 77 arrests recorded between January and March although only 31 people failed the test, 27 refused to take it and 19 passed it during that period.

Sixty-four men were arrested during the second quarter of the year showing that males are still more likely to break impaired driving laws as was indicated in the statistics for the first quarter of the year when 70 of the 77 arrests were made against men.

Both women arrested between April and June, 1999, failed the test.

By age, people between the ages of 31 and 40 continue to account for the largest proportion of arrests with 23 being nabbed by Police officers.

Twenty-six people in this age group were arrested during the first quarter of the year.

Eighteen arrests were made against people between 22 and 30 years of age, five less than the 23 arrests recorded during the first quarter.

Saturday and Sunday remained the most popular nights for people to break the law with 19 arrests recorded for each.

During the first quarter, Saturday saw 17 arrests and Sunday collected 16.

And the busiest time for officers was between 3 and 5 a.m. when officers pulled over 27 drivers during the second three months of the year, the statistics show.

Between January and March, the busiest time for officers was from 1 to 3 a.m.

when officers pulled over 29 drivers.

Forty-six of the arrests made during the second quarter were against bike riders and 17 were against car drivers. One taxi driver was also nabbed by officers as were a van driver and a trucker.

These figures are close to those recorded in the first quarter of 1999 when 45 arrests were made against bike riders, 27 against car drivers, two apiece against taxi drivers and van drivers and a lone trucker.

The average failure rate of the people who took the test was 166.2 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood -- more than twice the legal limit of 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres.

This was down from the first quarter when the average failure rate was 171.9 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

And other statistics show that the highest reading of all was a whopping 370 milligrams per 100 millilitres -- five times the legal limit.

The youngest person arrested was 17 and recorded a reading of 89 milligrams per 100 millilitres and the oldest was 58 years old with a blood/alcohol reading of 79 milligrams per 100 millilitres.

For the fist quarter of 1999 the statistics showed that the highest reading of all was 257 milligrams per 100 millilitres. The youngest person arrested was 17 and he refused to take the test, while the oldest was 70 years old with a blood/alcohol reading of 90 milligrams per 100 millilitres.