Major nightspot Zouk has seen a quadrupling in the use of its hand-held breathalysers, while St James Power Station has seen a 20 per cent jump.

The latter club said 750 of its patrons have used its devices each week since the police set up roadblocks on random nights to seal off all routes out of entertainment districts.

Zouk, which has four Tiger Beer-sponsored breathalyser units, said 20 of its patrons use them each night, up from fewer than five three weeks ago.

The club sits in the heart of the Outram-Havelock area, where simultaneous roadblocks by the Traffic Police went up in the early hours of Feb 17, catching 20 drink drivers who were leaving the clutch of clubs, bars and karaoke lounges there.

The step-up in enforcement comes on the back of 4,009 drink drivers having been caught last year, a 7-per-cent increase from the previous year and a 10-year high.

In the first nine months of last year, at least 11 people were killed and 193 injured in drink-driving related accidents.

Zouk has offered hand-held breath testers since last May, while St James has made them available since last November.

Asia Pacific Breweries, which distributes Tiger Beer, plans to put such breathalysers in four watering holes in the Dempsey party district as well.

Those guilty of drink driving can be fined $5,000 or jailed for six months; repeat offenders can be fined up to $10,000 and face a mandatory jail term of up to a year.

Convicted offenders are also disqualified from driving for at least a year, even if they do not cause traffic accidents.

The problem nightspots face is that a positive breath test does not always translate into a drunk person deciding not to drive.

Some club patrons fail the breath test but laugh it off.

What is worse is that those who are the most tanked up are also most often the ones who refuse to take the test, say club operators.

Zouk's marketing manager Tracy Phillips said: 'We cannot keep their car keys or hold them till the police arrive.'

To the suggestion in Parliament last week that breathalysers be made a mandatory feature at nightspots, the clubs say it is a good idea.

However, they point out their concern that they do not have the power to stop a drunk patron from driving off, although they are supposed to stop serving drinks to those who drive and have had enough.

Here, under the Customs (Liquors Licensing) Regulations, alcohol servers - and these can be clubs or even coffee shops - can be fined up to $5,000 for serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons who cause harm to others or themselves.

In Japan, where police penalise the pub where the drink driver has had his drinks, valets at the nightspots and restaurants do withhold the car keys of drunk patrons and drive them home.

Bar operators here are uncomfortable with taking responsibility for those who choose to drive when drunk.

The onus should ultimately lie with the reveller, said one club owner, adding: 'You don't really need a breathalyser to tell you that you have had one too many and can't drive.'

jermync@sph.com.sg