Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 27, 2001
For more information:  Bill Shattuck, 773-4506

DRINKING, BOATING AND JULY 4 MAKE EXPLOSIVE COMBINATION

PIERRE – There are more boating accidents on the July 4 weekend than any other weekend of the year, and too many of them are caused by alcohol, according to Game, Fish and Parks Boating Safety Specialist Bill Shattuck.

A recent U.S. Coast Guard study estimates that boat operators with a blood alcohol concentration above .10 percent are more than 10 times as likely to be killed in a boating accident than boaters with zero blood alcohol concentration. According to the most recent U.S. Coast Guard boating safety statistics, alcohol involvement in reported accidents accounted for 26 percent of all boating fatalities in 1999.

"Drinking while boating is just as dangerous as drinking and driving, maybe even more so, due to a combination of boating stress factors such as prolonged exposure to sun, wind, noise, vibration and boat motion on the water," Shattuck said. "Known as ‘boater's fatigue’, this condition slows reaction time almost as much as if a boater were legally drunk. Just one drink combined with these stress factors is enough to impair a boat operator's judgment."

Boating while intoxicated (BWI) is also illegal. The U.S. Coast Guard enforces federal law, which sets a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) standard of .08 percent as legal intoxication. All 50 states and the District of Columbia also have BWI laws. 

The Coast Guard's 1999 boating safety statistics also indicate that 90 percent of boating deaths took place on boats whose operator had not completed a boating safety education course. At www.BoatUS.com, BoatU.S. offers a free online boating safety course, taken by more than 150,000 boaters to date.

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