TELEVISION campaigns against drinking and driving should be made even

more graphic and forceful, according to a senior Strathclyde Police

traffic officer who believes that a successful Spanish ''mini series''

could form the basis of a new initiative.

Superintendent Alistair McLuckie expressed the personal view that

''good taste'' limits could be inhibiting further progress against

offending drivers who are habitual offenders.

Extolling the virtues of the sometimes distressing Spanish video,

shown at a recent London road safety conference, Mr McLuckie said: ''I

have never known a piece of safety propaganda make such an impression on

veteran officers. It is a shame it cannot receive UK exposure. We appear

to have a shock threshold beyond which the authorities will not pass.''

The Spanish footage uses a combination of actors and actual victims

and covers a period of three to four years covering accidents,

hospitalisation, funerals, and the longer-term aftermaths of personal

tragedies.

In one particularly harrowing scene, filmed using actors, a crippled

father and his surviving son vividly express their enduring resentment,

distress, and bewilderment at the loss of their wife and mother several

years after a drink-related crash.

Crash victims, including paraplegic victims, provided harrowing

accounts of experiences during and after accidents, while accident

aftermaths were filmed and those involved traced.

Superintendent McLuckie reasoned: ''As a professional who has dealt

with this blight, I believe there is a long way to go before reaching

limits of tolerance about the strength or force of the message. I would

have no compunction, with obvious domestic changes, about this type of

approach being used.''

Mr McLuckie said the claimed success of the Spanish campaign in a

country with one of Europe's worst records for road deaths and

drink-driving casualties underlined its potential value in a receptive

British environment.

He admitted that an impression had been made on UK public attitudes to

drinking and driving, but added: ''There is no point in turning corners

if you do not finish the job. The habitual recidivist has to be stopped.

Even if one of them is taken off the road, then it is worth the expense.

Peer group and family pressure are strong influences.''

A recent summer campaign against drinking and driving included

locating wrecked vehicles at motorway service areas with the stark

message that their former occupants are now dead.

Meanwhile, 10 deaths in Strathclyde during the month ended at midnight

on Sunday illustrated a deteriorating accident record in Scotland's

largest region, statistics which are dismaying and mystifying to the

police.

After an enouraging opening six months the improvement was reversed

last month with 14 accidents claiming 15 lives, against nine crashes

killing nine people last July. As a result Strathclyde's toll for the

year to date now stands at 72 deaths against 78 during the same period

last year, an improvement of only 3%.

Force analysts are hoping that last September, when 20 people died on

the region's roads, was unrepresentative of a normally low accident rate

during that month.

Superintendent McLuckie said: ''To be honest, we are mystified by the

figures. It cannot be put down to speed, weather, drink or anything

enforceable, just a tragic, random series of accidents with depressing

variety of causes and effects.''

During the month ended at midnight on Sunday, The Herald's fatal

accident audit recorded 27 deaths across Scotland's eight police traffic

areas.

....................Fatal.......No..of

................accidents.......deaths

Strathclyde.............8...........10

Tayside.................2............2

Northern................3............3

Central.................1............1

Fife....................1............1

Dumfries & Galloway.....2............3

Lothian & Borders.......4............4

Grampian................3............3