Motorists were reminded of the costs of drink-driving yesterday through an eye-catching addition to the Island’s usual landmarks.

The twisted metal and crushed bodywork of 16 cars captured the attention in a stunt that proved so effective The Royal Gazette was contacted by passers-by believing real accidents had taken place.

The wrecked vehicles were an attempt to drive home the message that drink-driving destroys lives.

Yesterday was No Alcohol Day — part of Alcohol Awareness Month on the Island.

As part of the anti-drink-drive campaign, the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (CADA) teamed up with the Bermuda Police Service, Ministry of Works and Engineering and HWP to install badly damaged cars by roadsides across the Island.

Those involved worked overnight on Thursday so commuters would see the cars yesterday morning. The vehicles — none of which were involved in fatalities or drink-driving incidents — were then removed in the early hours of today.

Yesterday it seemed the campaign was already having an impact. One blogger Bda_Wookie on website Bermuda Road Hog said: “Gotta say I love the new campaign for drink-driving...Wrecked cars at the side of the road with bright, yellow signs. A great idea!

“I say that shock value will go a long way.”

Another, named Adjustah, said: “I’m also a big fan of this campaign having seen its effect when they did this in Canada.”

The locations were: St.David’s roundabout in St. George’s; Bailey’s Bay Post Office; Shelly Bay Marketplace; John Smith’s Bay Park; Pokiok Estate; Vesey Street; Garthowen Road, Devonshire; the Palmetto Road/Barkers Hill roundabout; East Broadway; Trimingham Hill roundabout; Middle Road at Stowe Hill; South Shore Road, Paget; Middle Road at Warwick Pond; Horseshoe Bay Beach; Barnes Corner and Port Royal, Southampton.

CADA chairman, Anthony Santucci, said: “We selected the locations to gain maximum impact as we wanted to ensure that a large percentage of the travelling public were able to see the cars on their way to work and during the day as they moved around the Island.

“We know in 2005 more than half of the road traffic fatalities had a drug and/or alcohol component. We remain committed to reminding the residents of Bermuda that alcohol-related accidents and deaths shouldn’t happen and must not continue.”

According to the Police, there were 128 collisions in 2005 attributed to alcohol or drugs — 4.4 percent of the total. Officers arrested 120 motorists on suspicion of impaired driving.

Last year Police recorded 111 accidents where drink or drugs were suspected — 3.9 percent of the total 2,839, and there were 113 arrests for impaired driving.

A Police spokesman said: “The Bermuda Police Service is encouraged by the recent drop in arrests made on suspicion of impaired driving. However, it is important to get the message out that driving while impaired is dangerous and can result in death. Therefore, we would like to see these numbers go down even further.”

The legal limit is 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. However the Police and TCD say the safest approach is not to drink at all if you are driving.

Yet despite yesterday being No Alcohol Day, bars reported selling the usual amount of the hard stuff. A staff member at Pickled Onion on Front Street said: “There’s been no difference at all, and no increase in the number of soft drinks sold.”

Mark O’Connor, manager at Docksiders, also on Front Street, also said his sales had been “pretty much the same” as usual.