With the 4th of July holiday weekend right around the corner, the U.S. Coast Guard is launching "Operation Dry Water" to cut down on drunk boating.
The Coast Guard is teaming up with the Door County Sheriff's Office for extra patrols on Lake Michigan all weekend. They start on Friday and will wrap up on Sunday July 2nd.
"Boat operators have criteria they're looking for to initiate contact so it's similar to a traffic stop" said Chief Deputy Pat McCarty of the Door County Sheriff's Office. "They have to have justification to stop the boat, but then they are looking for factors that may lead them to believe somebody is impaired."
Both agencies want to warn everyone on the water that drinking and boating is no different than drinking and driving a car. If you have a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher while driving a boat, you could face similar penalties to drinking and driving a car.
If you are arrested for boating under the influence your boat could be impounded, you could face fines, jail time and your boating and vehicle driving privileges could be revoked as well.
Officials say alcohol use is the leading cause of fatal boating accidents.
The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators says alcohol can impair a boater's judgment, balance, vision and reaction time. Sun, wind noise, vibration and "stressors", common while driving a boat, intensify the side effects of alcohol and drugs.
They say it's even more dangerous for a boater to be impaired than drivers on the road because boaters are typically less experienced and confident as they are on the road.
Since the program started nationwide in 2009, law enforcement officers have removed 2,520 boaters under the influence and made contact with over 860,400 boaters during the annual three day weekend.
Just in 2016, officers across the country made 367 BUI arrests and issued 18,659 citations and warnings
