Drink driving in Bermuda should be made a criminal offence with harsher sentences, according to the Road Safety Council.

Chairman Dr. Joseph Froncioni said driving while over the alcohol limit in Bermuda was far too common and widely accepted, while in many jurisdictions it had become a social no no.

But he said legislation needed to be changed in Bermuda to enable Police to random breath test people at the side of the road, and to make the offence more serious.

"Drinking and driving is nearly an accepted thing in Bermuda," said the orthopaedic surgeon, who operates on road collision victims frequently.

"During the evening and night time hours, a large percentage of people involved in serious crashes are under the influence of alcohol and or drugs. And that's from the experience of people who work in the emergency room.

"So there is no question that alcohol or drugs contributes to our crashes, so we need to do something about that."

Dr. Froncioni said in most countries drinking and driving had the stigma he believed it should have.

"In most developed countries, drinking and driving is a criminal offence, dealt with in the harshest way.

"We want to see drinking and driving made a criminal offence here. Everyone caught should be treated harshly."

And the chairman said he was appalled to see that a man was treated more seriously in Magistrates' Court simply because it was his tenth drink driving offence.

"I want to know how someone had been allowed to get to that point," he asked.

"He should have been dealt with very harshly much sooner than that."

Dr. Froncioni said he believed Bermuda needed to step up its anti-drink driving campaign to make it as unacceptable as it was in other countries, such as the UK and Canada.

In those countries, even the merest suggestion that somebody would get behind the wheel of a vehicle after a few drinks would be frowned upon by friends and family alike.

When people do get caught, punishments are imposed on them by society, as well as the courts.

But not so in Bermuda, where the year's ban and $1,000 fine does little to dissuade drinkers from also being drivers.

And the chairman said unless the country was to seriously come down hard on drink drivers, carrying out random and roadside breath tests very frequently, people would continue to feel they could get away with it. In 2001 in the UK, Police carried out a total of 624,000 breath tests, of which 16 percent were either positive or refused. GP Dr. Stephen Sherwin said even a couple of drinks could have a powerful affect on one's ability to control a vehicle.

"Most of the after hours accidents on the Island have either alcohol or drugs involved," said Dr. Stephen Sherwin, a GP who also acts as an out-of-hours police doctor.

"In tiny amounts alcohol is a stimulant but it rapidly becomes a sedative. It is said that an ounce of spirit is equivalent to about 25mg per dcl of blood which leads to only minimal impairment but 50-75mgs can lead to serious motor impairment and delayed response times. Consuming alcohol and then driving means response times are diminished, comprehension of your environment is diminished and there is a certain amount of psychological inhibition and risk taking."

Although people who drink and drive are often convinced that they `can handle the alcohol' and `are okay to drive', they are not in a position to make those sort of judgements. "People in a social environment cannot actually tell when they have reached their tolerance level for alcohol," continued Dr Sherwin. "Unfortunately it is still socially acceptable here to get in, or on, a motor vehicle and driving - in other countries it is frowned upon.

"Bermuda tends to have a more liberal approach to this. The `friends don't let friends drive drunk' saying doesn't work here while in other countries the stigma is intense. The advice has to be don't drink anything before you drive - zero tolerance is the only way to be safe."