NewsHound
07-03-2008, 11:15 PM
Authorities on lookout for drunken boaters over holiday
he laws are clear: You can't be drunk while driving a boat or a car.
Boaters, however, are allowed to drink on a vessel, while drivers are sent to jail if they have an open beer bottle in the car.
Now, as more people are flocking to the water during the long July Fourth weekend, local and state law enforcement officials are looking out for drunken boaters who could cause serious crashes.
"We see this more in the summer months," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Jorge Pino. "Boaters should definitely not drink, get impaired and get behind the wheel of a boat."
Authorities don't know why Florida laws, which banned open containers in cars and set the level of impairment for driving and boating at 0.08, didn't ban open containers on boats.
Local boaters, however, say that alcohol has no place at the helm of a vessel.
"I don't think the operator should be allowed to drink," said Capt. Paul Fasolo of Boynton Beach-based Ham'r Time Sport Fishing Charter Service. "You have to have someone sober in charge."
But there likely won't be an effort to get the law changed, according to police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
That's because being able to drink on a boat is widely accepted and it is less likely to cause a crash than drinking in a car, said Fred Kasdin, the local MADD chapter's executive director.
"I don't think it's come to the point where the Legislature will address it," said Lt. Ed Cates, FWCC assistant boating safety coordinator. "We actually see that operator inattention as far as cause is more significant."
Statistics from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission back that up.
In Palm Beach County, where 44,416 vessels were registered in 2007, about 6 percent of accidents were caused by alcohol.
And in Broward County, where 50,823 vessels are registered, about 5 percent of boating accidents were alcohol-related.
Speeding accounted for the majority of Palm Beach County crashes while operator inattention led to most of Broward's boating wrecks in 2007.
Alcohol has never been the leading cause of boating accidents in Florida, Cates said.
Nonetheless, authorities say that it's not a good idea to load a cooler full of beer or liquor, head out on a boat and drink while motoring around a lake or on the busy Intracoastal Waterway. "In BUI, your faculties and ability to react are limited," Cates said.
That's also a concern for Lynn Simmons, who runs Splashdown Divers from the Boynton Beach Marina. She said alcohol is dangerous for anyone on a boat in case of an emergency.
"It impairs your judgment," she said. "Even if a person isn't operating a boat they may have to."
Police can arrest someone accused of boating under the influence of alcohol and issue citations for other safety violations even though they cannot charge a boater with having an open container.
The Broward Sheriff's Office, however, has not made a BUI arrest since 2005, spokeswoman Kayla Concepcion said.
"It could be that people are hearing the warnings and are more aware of the dangers of alcohol," she said.
In Palm Beach County, deputies charged four boaters over Memorial Day weekend with operating their vessels under the influence of alcohol. In just four days, deputies surpassed the three BUI arrests they had for all of 2007, according to statistics from the Sheriff's Office.
"BUIs are very hard to detect," said Sgt. Yvonne Cacioli of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit. "The wind and the seas sometimes make the ordinary person appear impaired."
Source (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpbui0703pnjul03,0,2736678.story)
he laws are clear: You can't be drunk while driving a boat or a car.
Boaters, however, are allowed to drink on a vessel, while drivers are sent to jail if they have an open beer bottle in the car.
Now, as more people are flocking to the water during the long July Fourth weekend, local and state law enforcement officials are looking out for drunken boaters who could cause serious crashes.
"We see this more in the summer months," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Jorge Pino. "Boaters should definitely not drink, get impaired and get behind the wheel of a boat."
Authorities don't know why Florida laws, which banned open containers in cars and set the level of impairment for driving and boating at 0.08, didn't ban open containers on boats.
Local boaters, however, say that alcohol has no place at the helm of a vessel.
"I don't think the operator should be allowed to drink," said Capt. Paul Fasolo of Boynton Beach-based Ham'r Time Sport Fishing Charter Service. "You have to have someone sober in charge."
But there likely won't be an effort to get the law changed, according to police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
That's because being able to drink on a boat is widely accepted and it is less likely to cause a crash than drinking in a car, said Fred Kasdin, the local MADD chapter's executive director.
"I don't think it's come to the point where the Legislature will address it," said Lt. Ed Cates, FWCC assistant boating safety coordinator. "We actually see that operator inattention as far as cause is more significant."
Statistics from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission back that up.
In Palm Beach County, where 44,416 vessels were registered in 2007, about 6 percent of accidents were caused by alcohol.
And in Broward County, where 50,823 vessels are registered, about 5 percent of boating accidents were alcohol-related.
Speeding accounted for the majority of Palm Beach County crashes while operator inattention led to most of Broward's boating wrecks in 2007.
Alcohol has never been the leading cause of boating accidents in Florida, Cates said.
Nonetheless, authorities say that it's not a good idea to load a cooler full of beer or liquor, head out on a boat and drink while motoring around a lake or on the busy Intracoastal Waterway. "In BUI, your faculties and ability to react are limited," Cates said.
That's also a concern for Lynn Simmons, who runs Splashdown Divers from the Boynton Beach Marina. She said alcohol is dangerous for anyone on a boat in case of an emergency.
"It impairs your judgment," she said. "Even if a person isn't operating a boat they may have to."
Police can arrest someone accused of boating under the influence of alcohol and issue citations for other safety violations even though they cannot charge a boater with having an open container.
The Broward Sheriff's Office, however, has not made a BUI arrest since 2005, spokeswoman Kayla Concepcion said.
"It could be that people are hearing the warnings and are more aware of the dangers of alcohol," she said.
In Palm Beach County, deputies charged four boaters over Memorial Day weekend with operating their vessels under the influence of alcohol. In just four days, deputies surpassed the three BUI arrests they had for all of 2007, according to statistics from the Sheriff's Office.
"BUIs are very hard to detect," said Sgt. Yvonne Cacioli of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit. "The wind and the seas sometimes make the ordinary person appear impaired."
Source (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpbui0703pnjul03,0,2736678.story)