Summer Nationwide Crackdown Nets 322 Boaters for Boating Under the Influence

Marine law enforcement agencies across the United States arrested 322 vessel operators for boating under the influence (BUI) during a three-day, nationwide enforcement and awareness campaign this summer. The concentrated effort aimed to reduce alcohol- and drug-related incidents on the water, increase public awareness of the dangers of impaired boating, and provide a visible deterrent to unsafe behavior.

The campaign, known as Operation Dry Water, was organized by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). Launched in 2009, Operation Dry Water combines targeted enforcement with education to encourage safer recreational boating. In its inaugural year, the effort resulted in 283 BUI arrests; this year’s weekend of concentrated activity produced the larger total of 322 arrests.

Operation Dry Water 20XX took place from June 25–27 and saw substantial participation by state and local marine patrols. North Carolina recorded the highest number of BUI arrests with 34, followed by Tennessee with 27, Texas with 25, and Virginia with 24. Several states reported no BUI arrests during the enforcement weekend, including Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

The average blood alcohol concentration (BAC) among those arrested during the operation was 0.147 percent—well above the 0.08 percent threshold that constitutes impairment in most states. State and federal laws in most jurisdictions make it illegal to operate a vessel with a BAC of 0.08 or higher.

In addition to enforcement, NASBLA emphasized the operation’s role in public education. Local media coverage and community outreach during the weekend helped broadcast the safety message: consuming alcohol or drugs while operating a boat endangers everyone on board and on surrounding waterways. The campaign is deliberately scheduled on the weekend before Independence Day so the message remains fresh for the holiday period when recreational boating activity peaks.

Funding for Operation Dry Water has included grants from the U.S. Coast Guard. NASBLA secured financial support to expand enforcement and outreach during the weekend campaigns. Participation among law enforcement officers increased from 2,442 in 2009 to 2,708 in the most recent operation. The number of boaters contacted by officers during these efforts also rose sharply, from 36,277 in 2009 to 66,472 this year.

NASBLA explains that a “vessel contact” can include a variety of interactions: every vessel stopped at a checkpoint in states that allow them, routine safety checks performed on stopped vessels, and stops made based on suspicion of BUI. The large increase in contacts reflects both broader participation by agencies and intensified outreach and checks during the enforcement weekend.

Boating under the influence remains a leading contributor to recreational boating deaths. NASBLA reports that nearly one in five recreational boating fatalities involves alcohol. The combination of environmental factors—sun, wind, noise, vibration, and motion—can amplify the effects of alcohol, drugs, and certain medications, increasing the risk of a fatal incident. Continued education and enforcement like Operation Dry Water are essential to reducing these preventable tragedies.

As NASBLA notes, public attitudes toward drunk driving in automobiles shifted over decades through sustained education and enforcement. Changing attitudes about impaired boating will likewise require persistent public information campaigns, visible enforcement, and consistent messaging that drinking and operating a vessel is unacceptable and dangerous.

NASBLA is a national nonprofit organization that develops public policy and promotes safety for recreational boating. It represents the boating authorities of all 50 states and U.S. territories and works with federal, state, and local partners to improve boating safety outcomes.

BUI facts

• In 2009, alcohol was the leading factor in 16 percent of recreational boating deaths.
• An operator with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.10 percent is estimated to be over 10 times more likely to die in a boating accident than an operator with no BAC.
• Operating a boat with a BAC of 0.08 or higher is illegal in most states and under federal guidelines.
• Environmental stressors common to boating—sun exposure, wind, noise, vibration and motion—intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs and some medications.
• Alcohol can disturb the inner ear, impairing a person’s ability to sense up from down, which poses a particular danger if suddenly immersed in the water.

Sources: NASBLA and the U.S. Coast Guard

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue.