About four hours into a typical boat outing, most of us experience a condition known as “boater’s hypnosis.” Heat and sun glare, wind, engine vibration and noise, and waves combine to make most of us weary. Our balance, judgment, vision, and reaction time are affected as if we were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Now imagine how much worse it is to be actually impaired!
Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents. According to U.S. Coast Guard Recreational Boating Statistics, alcohol accounted for 17 percent of deaths in 2023. It is illegal in every state and territory to operate vessels, from kayaks to the largest yachts, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Consumption of alcohol is a choice, not an accident. Skippers who drink signal they don’t worry about anyone’s safety — theirs or yours. This carelessness may land them in a courtroom, jail, a hospital, or the morgue. Alcohol use also poses a danger to passengers; if you’re also under the influence, it’s hard to comply with a skipper’s commands and avoid slips and falls.
To prevent risky or even fatal outcomes, law enforcement authorities are committed to ridding the waters of careless boaters. Operation Dry Water, a year-round campaign coordinated with the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and the USCG, will heighten public awareness of the perils of boating while impaired on Friday, July 4 through Sunday, July 6. However, “awareness” isn’t about warning captains. Sober checkpoints will be set up and observations of other possible violations or unsafe piloting, such as a boat going too fast through a no-wake zone, will require sobriety tests. If BUI is suspected, the vessel may be impounded and the boat operator arrested.
BUI convictions carry the same or similar consequences as driving while intoxicated — imprisonment, loss of operating privileges, and seizure of the vessel. Every arrest triggers the expense of legal defense and potential loss of wages. In addition, if harm comes to passengers or people on other vessels, lawsuit expenses and damage awards are incalculable.
Learn more
https://www.nasbla.org/operationdrywater/home
