driving on Bermuda's roads.

An amendment lowering the alcohol legal limit for motorists from 100 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood to 80 milligrams was unanimously passed in the House of Assembly.

And with the change expected to pass without objections in the Senate, Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall said: "not only does this send a message that Government and the people of Bermuda will not tolerate drunk driving on our roads, it will make more people have less to drink''.

The amendment, which also applies to boaters, is a direct recommendation from Government drug consultant Dr. David Archibald's 1991 National Drug Strategy.

In that report, he stated: "Recent research has established that the effectiveness of legislation prohibiting impaired driving is heavily dependent on the perceptions of drivers of the likelihood of being apprehended.'' And Mr. Marshall stressed, if passed, the new impaired driving law would definitely be enforced.

"We're putting ourselves in line with most of the world,'' he said, noting that Bermuda, Ireland, and the United States are the only countries which still have the .10 percent limit.

But while the US' federal rate is .10 percent, Mr. Marshall pointed out, each state has the power to be more severe and reduce this rate.

And, he noted, Japan has no tolerance for motorists consuming any amount of alcohol.

Mr. Marshall also noted that in 1986, before the introduction of the "Camic'' breath analyser machine in Bermuda, arrests for alleged alcohol-impaired driving totaled 587.

This, he said, increased to 626 in the next year before a gradual decline from 512 arrested in 1988 to 277 arrested in 1990 when the instrument was introduced.

But, Mr. Marshall said, if the alcohol level indicative of impaired driving had been down to 80 (milligrams) two years ago, there would have been about 50 more convictions for impaired driving than the 170 recorded.

He also noted that the percentage of those who failed the tests and were convicted jumped from around 60 between 1986 and 1990 to 67 percent last year.

That is 241 of the 361 people arrested for impaired driving failed the test.

Mr. Marshall said, based on 1989 statistics, the majority of people arrested for impaired driving are males, falling in the 22-to-30-year age range.

Stressing that he was confident that both sides of the House and the public would accept the amendment, Mr. Marshall added: "I hope that now we can find an acceptable instrument which will be able to measure other illicit drugs in the body and I hope the public accepts this because there are just as many offences committed due to alcohol as there are due to illicit drugs''.

While Opposition MPs supported the amendment, concerns were expressed about the risk of overcrowding Magistrates' Court.

"The flow through the Magistrates' Court, even at the 100 milligrams per litre level is very, very high indeed,'' PLP MP Mr. Julian Hall said. "I think it is a well established fact that Magistrates' Court is understaffed and overpopulated with cases.'' Full report -- Page 4 HON Ralph Matshall.