Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police will be stepping up enforcement activities this weekend for boating under the influence. EnCon Police officers along with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, state, and local police will participate in Operation Dry Water and will be out in force June 27 to 29 checking for boaters with a Blood Alcohol Content exceeding the state limit of .08%. Operation Dry Water will include state-wide increased patrols and checkpoints, as well as boater education efforts. Impaired boaters can expect penalties to be severe. In Connecticut they include fines, jail and loss of boating privileges.
“The purpose of Operation Dry Water is to educate as many boaters as possible about the hazards of boating while under the influence and to reduce the number of alcohol and drug related accidents and deaths on the water,” said Captain Ryan Healy of the EnCon Police and spokesperson for the Operation Dry Water Campaign. “If you are caught boating under the influence, you will face the consequences. We want recreational boaters to enjoy themselves, but there will be zero tolerance for BUI.”
Boating Under the Influence (BUI) continues to be a major problem in Connecticut and the U.S. In Connecticut, in the five-year period between 2008 and 2012, 47% (18 of 38) of the boating accidents that resulted in fatalities were alcohol-related and 18% (19 of 105) of accidents with injuries involved alcohol.
A boat operator or even passengers with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit run a significantly increased risk of being involved in a fatal boating accident. When impaired by alcohol, boating accidents are more likely and more deadly for both passengers and boat operators, many of whom capsize their vessel or simply fall overboard.
Operation Dry Water, a multi-agency, education and enforcement initiative launched by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) in 2009 in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, puts thousands of local, state and federal marine law enforcement officers on the water nationwide prior to the July 4th holiday to give BUI enforcement high visibility during the peak boating season. For more information, visit operationdrywater.org or the DEEP website at ct.gov/deep/enconpolice.