HE VOMITED twice and even had to take a 45-minute nap on an expressway shoulder because he was still groggy - from six glasses of vodka.

The 18-year-old student was able to tell The Straits Times about his experience as an underaged drink driver only because he is still alive.

Not so lucky were the five drivers aged under 35 who died this year.

The student, who asked not to be named, had snuck his mother's BMW car to a barbecue on the East Coast last month.

Two hours later, he tried to dilute the vodka for the drive back to his Jurong home - he chugged 1.5 litres of water. The loud music he played did not help either.

The son of a senior police officer admitted the nap he stole was because he 'could not take it anymore'.

He conceded he was drunk but said: 'I still had control. If I can bring myself home drunk, that's a challenge.'

When he got home, he 'sprayed perfume in the car' and cleaned it up. His mum never found out.

The Straits Times also spoke to nine other drink drivers aged 18 to 26.

At least six had borrowed cars from family members for their alcohol-filled night out.

All drink drive at least once a month. And one of them - who works at a bar in Holland Village - admitted to doing it everyday after work.

They are not alone: half of the drink drivers arrested last year were 20 to 34 years old. While drink-driving accidents have gone down since last year, those under 35 still make up the largest at-risk age group, say the Traffic Police.

From The Straits Times' own interviews, a dangerous cocktail is brewed when new driving licences put youths who had started drinking in their late teens in the driver's seat instead of the back-seat.

It can even become an ego trip, made worse when parents who hand over the keys to the car either just don't know, or close one eye.

Those interviewed ranged from a blue-collar worker to national servicemen, from undergraduates to professionals.

Nearly all rebuffed the label 'drink driver', despite downing anything between two and 15 drinks before driving.

Said 20-year-old national serviceman Eugene (not his real name), who usually has five drinks before driving home: 'I am not a drink driver because I am not tipsy then.

'I don't see why I should have less fun if I want to get back home on my own.'

The roads can do with less fun of this sort.

Appeals judge V.K. Rajah set the bar last month when he handed a harsh sentence of five months' jail and a five-year ban on driving and riding to a young drink driver.

Meanwhile, the Traffic Police have stepped up efforts aimed at young drink drivers. At their annual anti-drink drive campaign on Friday, a portal - www.sadd.sg, which goes 'live' today - was launched.

Set up by tertiary students, it gives information on drink driving, as well as a video clip on its dangers.

A new youth movement called Students Against Drink Driving has also been set up and aims to recruit tertiary students to spread the word.

Nightspots too are doing their part. The Ministry of Sound and Zouk - popular with young clubbers - provide drive-home valet services and breathalyser tests.

Still, said a 26-year-old ex-drink driver: 'You can have all the measures in the world, but if a youth does not make the commitment to stop drink driving, no one can stop him.'