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Bills aimed at reducing boating BAC

April 1, 2013

As summer approaches and students flock to the beach, boat drivers could be held to the same standard for drinking and driving as someone driving a car.

State Reps. Andrew Kandrevas, D-Southgate, Matt Lori, R-Constantine, and Dave Pagel, R-Berrien Springs, introduced a bipartisan package of bills to lower the blood alcohol content, or BAC, level at which a person is considered too drunk to drive certain recreational vehicles.

The legislators are hoping to change the BAC limit for anyone driving a boat, snowmobile or off-road vehicle would change from 0.10 grams to 0.08 grams — the legal limit for driving a car.

When Kandrevas first noticed the allowed BAC level was higher for recreational vehicle drives, he said he thought it was an oversight.

“We see more and more fatalities, and we see worse and worse cases where alcohol has mixed with operating different types of vehicles,” he said.

Four deaths and 11 boating accidents related to alcohol occurred in Michigan in 2011, according to data from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Lt. Vern Elliott of the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office said most boating accidents the department comes across involve alcohol.

Although he couldn’t estimate how many yearly alcohol-related accidents occur on the water in Ingham County, Elliot said there are far fewer incidents than in bigger lakes, such as Higgins or Houghton lakes in Northern Michigan.

Elliot said the combination of the sun, wind and waves intensifies the effects of alcohol, which often can lead to accidents. He advises keeping life jackets handy, designating a driver who isn’t drinking and staying in control.

“Monitor yourself, and monitor those around so that you’re not going to ruin a great summer day on the lake by being involved in a tragedy,” Elliot said.

Kinesiology senior Todd Kruse grew up in Chelsea, Mich., down the street from North Lake, where he spent time driving boats and water skiing. He said about five years ago, someone who had been drinking crashed into the docks — almost hitting Kruse’s boat.

“I think that people don’t really see driving a boat as being that difficult, but I think it takes so much more awareness than driving a car,” he said. “There’s so much else going on — it’s not like you have a street to follow.”

A similar set of bills were introduced in 2006 but did not move past the House Judiciary Committee.

The bills are under review from the legislature’s Committee of Criminal Justice.

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