Patrols on lookout for BUIs

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ALCOHOL AND BOATING ACCIDENTS IN MICHIGAN

Boating accidents and casualties in Michigan in which alcohol was a contributing factor.

Deaths Accidents Injuries

2007 4 5 2

2008 3 7 2

2009 9 12 10

2010 8 16 11

2011 4 11 9

Source: Recreational Boating Statistics 2011, U.S. Coast Guard

June 22, 2012

Patrols on lookout for BUIs

Nationwide campaign kicks off today, runs until Sunday

BY JAMES RUSSELL jrussell@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Fri Jun 22, 2012, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — The U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement officials hope things stay a little drier on the open water this summer.

Operation Dry Water, a nationwide campaign to combat boating under the influence, kicks off today and runs through Sunday. The U.S. Coast Guard, including the local Frankfort station, will ramp up patrols of area waters to enforce BUI laws.

Robert Nendza, the officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Frankfort, said they will have boats on the water this weekend doing safety checks and on the lookout for drunken boating.

"We also provide educational guidance to people that the Coast Guard does actually enforce this, and we take a lot of interest in fighting boating under the influence," Nendza said.

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators launched Operation Dry Water in 2009 in partnership with the Coast Guard to draw attention to the hazards of boating under the influence.

The Coast Guard reported that recreational boating fatalities nationwide in 2011 jumped to their highest levels since 1998, and alcohol was the leading factor in fatal accidents. In Michigan, 26 people died in boating accidents in 2011; alcohol contributed to four of the deaths.

Nendza said the Coast Guard conducts regular safety checks to ensure boaters are playing it safe.

"We don't specifically target BUI, but we do random safety inspections and we'll go from there if we find someone boating under the influence," he said.

In Michigan, operating a boat with a blood alcohol content of 0.10 percent or greater is illegal. Boat operators and passengers can have open containers on board, but they can't operate a boat while intoxicated. Officers also can determine that a driver is impaired, even if they're blood alcohol content may be lower than 0.10.

"There is an impaired clause that does not have a lower limit," said Deputy Wayne Kalchik, of the Leelanau County Sheriff's Department's marine division. "A lot of people don't realize that even if they just have one or two drinks, it can impair their driving."

The summer months are a busy time for Kalchik and other marine patrols in northwest Lower Michigan. Leelanau has four officers and five boats to monitor a huge area that includes Grand Traverse Bay from Traverse City to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Northport, the big lake south from Northport to Empire, and two major inland lakes.

"We're always on the lookout for operators under the influence of alcohol," Kalchik said. "It's a big problem in that accidents seem to be prevalent when alcohol is factor, but it's not something we find frequently. Over last few years, people have taken the idea of a designated driver on the road and transferred that to the water."