Pretoria — The number of motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol has increased by about 16 percent this year as compared to last year.

According to a statement released by the Arrive Alive office, the national daily average of people driving under the influence of alcohol has increased from 1.8 percent in 2002, to an average of 2.08 percent this year.

The information forms part of the conclusions of the 2003 Road Traffic Offence Survey that was recently done by the National Department of Transport, the statement said.

It said the survey was done in order to combat the occurrence of road traffic accidents and to plan and undertake road traffic safety programmes.

According to the department's General Manager Road Safety Regulation, Wendy Watson, the situation was worrying in the light of approaching traditional New Year parties and the fact that more people drove under the influence of alcohol at this time of the year.

She said the figures on drivers driving under the influence of alcohol should also be considered in terms of the role played by alcohol in road traffic accidents.

Ms Watson said figures released early this year by the Medical Research Council showed that a high percentage of persons killed in road accidents were found to be under the influence of alcohol.

"In accordance with these figures, the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 46.5 percent of all drivers killed in crashes exceeded the legal limit of 0.05 g/ml while 9.5 percent consumed more than 5 times the legal limit," she explained.

She also said the BAC of 57.1percent of pedestrians killed in crashes exceeded the legal limit while 24.7 percent consumed more than five times the legal limit of alcohol.