Road safety chiefs yesterday called for tough new zero alcohol drink driving laws in a bid to cut down Bermuda's grim death toll on the roads.

Delcina Bean Burrows -- the new go-ahead chairman of the influential Road Safety Council -- said: "The top issue as far as we are concerned is impaired driving.

"And we will probably be pushing for an amendment to the law to introduce zero tolerance of alcohol as opposed to a drink driving limit.'' The get-tough move -- occasionally raised as a possibility in the UK -- has been standard practice in some Scandinavian countries for years.

Ms Bean Burrows added: "The board is extremely concerned that people are driving within the legal limit, but still driving in an impaired manner.

"Other drugs, even prescription ones and the degree of tiredness, can mean the effects of a legal amount of alcohol can be greater.'' Ms Bean Burrows admitted that there could be strong opposition to a total ban on alcohol while driving.

She said: "Some people would argue it's too harsh but if you have one situation where someone wipes out someone else's life when driving while impaired, the price is a small one to pay in terms of having a zero blood alcohol and zero drugs law.'' And she added: "Driving is still a privilege -- it's not a right and you have to expect that, once a privilege is extended, people have to be responsible for their actions.

Ms Bean Burrows said: "We don't see where we have too many alternatives.'' And she said Government could "ease it in'' by regular cuts in the drink driving limit -- currently 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood -- until the zero level is reached.

Also on the cards for the Council is a call for those convicted of drunk driving to be supervised more closely before being allowed back on the road -- and, if alcohol is found to be a serious problem, to undergo treatment before being given their licence back.

Ms Bean Burrows said: "Once a person loses their licence they should have to go through a period of driver education and rehabilitation.

"And, if they're drinking and driving, it may be a problem with alcohol individuals have and, if so, there should be treatment for that individual.'' She added that the first Council meeting of the year had discussed the horrendous death list last year -- 18 road fatalities, a record for recent times -- and ways to reduce the death toll.

Ms Bean Burrows said: "Some of the accidents we have had, alcohol has definitely been a factor and very probably is in others and we don't know about it.

`Zero tolerance' proposed by road safety boss "If we accept that there are people with alcohol problems in our society, we must accept that they will at some point be behind the wheel of a car or on a bike.'' Ms Bean Burrows pledged that the new Council would listen to the public -- and added that a new monthly road safety radio chat show appeared to show support for any measures to cut down on roads deaths and injuries.

But she said major research into the causes of accidents -- which she called for only days after she was appointed was needed to decide the scale of the problem of accident causes in relation to drinking.

Other top topics for the Council included child passenger safety and safety seats and harnesses for the young. The UK already has similar laws.

And members also called for a greater Police presence to enforce traffic laws at peak traffic times and mandatory wearing of crash helmets on pedal cycles, as well as a national programme of bicyle safety education.

Ms Bean Burrows also backed an all-year-round designated driver campaign, rather than the current Christmas one.

A spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service last night declined to comment on a zero alcohol and drugs level for driving.

But he said: "But certainly, we as Police officers will wholeheartedly support any new legislation which would limit or make a considerable contribution to the reduction of any road accidents, let alone fatalities.''