Police statistics.

Police arrested 103 people for the offence during the first quarter of the year. This compares with just 67 for the same period last year.

Ninety-nine of those arrested were men. Vehicles most involved were bikes (61), followed by cars (32), vans (8) and trucks (2).

Early this year, The Royal Gazette reported a 35 per cent year-on-year increase in arrests for impaired driving. The increase was thought due to an increase in Police patrols and greater use of reservists on weekends.

The year 2000 ended with a total of 386 arrests compared to 285 in 1999.

Road Safety Chairman Dr. Joseph Froncioni told The Royal Gazette that it was difficult to say how much of the increase was due to more people driving while drinking or greater enthusiasm to enforce the Island's drink-driving laws.

According to the stats, 60 people -- 58 men and two women -- failed the alco-analyser test which measures the amount of alcohol in the blood.

Sixteen passed and 27 refused to take it. The same penalties apply to those who refuse to take the test as those who fail it.

The highest reading among those who failed the test was 327 mgs of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The average was 173.5mgs.

First quarter 2001 also saw 28 alcohol related accidents, one of which was fatal.

Assistant Police Commissioner Carlton Adams appealed to the public to practice responsible driving and "adhere to the designated driving system.'' CRIME CRM