drunk or sober, on plane in the dark is not a good idea. logs don't have running lights either. of course there is no logslaughter charge, except what the repair guy charges you. oh, this is an old thread. oh well. still applies...

I dont understand why we always have to talk about this. But I guess adults can not be adults and do the right thing thus we always have to hear about it.

The real problem is this. Eventually operating any motor vehicle is going to be zero tolerance, so a 0.0 BAC, well probably a .01 whatever it is for communion and other purposes. And this is going to ruin it for the majority. But at the same time it mike make it easier because there wouldnt be any guessing.

In NJ I would not be surprised to see the BAC (blood alcohol concentration) limit of 0.08 changed to 0.04, the same as it is for a CDL license.

I practice DUI/DWI/BWI law in NJ, and have represented a defendant that had killed the driver of another vehicle in a car accident. If you are in a boat, or in a car and you kill someone and you are drunk or under the influence of drugs lookout, jail-time is a coming, and not the 3 1/2 years of jail time mentioned earlier in this thread, double that at minimum.

The effective sentence in state prison would be about half of the courtroom sentence as long as the guilty behaves well behind bars.

Sometimes, the penalties are different.

http://www.eaglecountryonline.com/news.php?nID=4010

I can't even begin to remember how many drunken boating accidents, and deaths, have occurred since this thread was started. There are enough people out there with limited boating skills, not to mention the ever-changing conditions on the water, without adding any degree of operator impairment to the equation.

If that's not enough to stop it. Think of the legal and financial aspects.

yeah but you still have to live with killing somebody. And think about being locked away for even a year. Imagine a ten by ten room probably even smaller, for 2-3 years. Plus good luck on a job when you get out.

I would almost be for a 0 tolerance law as it would take the guess work out of anything. Personally I can say I probably have never driven drunk maybe close once in my life, not trying to act like an angel here but its just not worth it to me. I can probably count on one or two hands where I have actually driven after having a drink. Its not worth my life, others, the money, or jail time

I couldn't agree with either on of you guys on both responses to this problem. I used to drink and drive back in my stupid days! I mean a lot! My poor old Guarding Angle worked over time back then. I never got in a wreck nor killed anybody thank God! I learned and it wasn't the hard way. Now its 0drinks driving or anything! I haven't had a beer in about 6 years. You guys hit the head on the nail!

Going to a ZERO tolerance policy would punish the masses who ARE responsible just because of the actions of a few. The ones that follow the law aren't the problem. If it was zero tolerance the accidents would still happen because they are being caused by people that don't follow the law anyways.

The examples of loss of life/accidents that you guys throw out are all examples of people who are reckless boaters. Going 50 mph in the dark is RECKLESS. Running 80 miles an hour after a few drinks is RECKLESS. Partying all day and then running the boat home at any speed is RECKLESS. All are poor boating choices as well as poor consumption choices.

Taking my family to lunch and having 1 beer is not a reckless decision. (P.S. - I don't drink beer).

You're also painting everyones boating circumstance with the same brush. Not everyone boats in a crowded lake like Havasu or Loto where traffic is an issue. In the picture below my house is just to the left of that duckblind - probably less than 1000 feet away; can you really tell me with a straight face that it would create a significant threat to ANYONE if I were to have 1 beer and then idle back over to my dock??

Each circumstance deserves it's own consideration - you can't get up on a soap box and tell everyone zero tolerance is what is required to make boating safer - what is required is better decision making whether the decision is how recklessly to operate the boat, or how many drinks one can have over the course of the day.

im not a soap box and like I said IM not fist pumping for 0 tolerance I just said I wouldnt mind it. The current laws are adequate but I think more punishment would be great for those. Like you said 0 tolerance people would still do it, but I think you would still cut down on numbers of people who do it. And really most people cant have any more than 2-3 drinks before they are legally drunk so to not have that beer or rum and coke going make your day not fun if your the driver, probably not.

12,000 peoople are killed each year due to drunks and 1 million are arrested for DUI's, relatively small numbers per capita but still a prettly large number. I dont think people really understand the severity of those deaths until they have one hit close to home. Those numbers are people arrested not counting people who didnt get caught which I would guess to probably be 10-15 times that number. Drunk driving however you twist it and what you think the rules should be is not the action of a few.

I took my Wife out for an evening cruise one fall night, it was a full moon and nice out. We stopped at a local cove and hung out for a while. On the way there I saw something red, thought it was a reflector off of a parking lot in the distance. After a while we took off, just fast enough to be on plane, not too fast. As we got going about 50 yards ahead of me I saw a cigarete lighter light up, I had passed him on the way to the cove.
I came off plane in plenty of time, but he was just off the port side. I asked him wtf?? It was a new ski boat loaded with people, most sounded like they were drinking. They ran out of gas, I asked if he had a tow rope and he turned all his lights on to look, I chewed his a$$ and then towed him in.
In the beginning of the thread it said people are progressively getting more un intelligent,,, I believe it, especially with boating.