Whether operating a motor vehicle or a boat, a person whose judgment is impaired by alcohol is a menace to public safety.
Credit Rep. Loraine Pace, R-Logan, for sponsoring legislation to criminalize boating while under the influence. Under Pace's proposal, a boating-under-the-influence (BUI) violation has the same weight as a driving-under-the-influence citation and shows up on an individual's driver's license record as a DUI offense.
Whether on land or water, operating a car or watercraft while under the influence of alcohol demonstrates disregard for public and personal safety. According to Pace, there have been six boating fatalities in Utah so far this year, compared with a total of six deaths in 2000.
Before drunken boating can be considered on par with drunken driving, the state needs to establish a licensing procedure for boating, which would occur under Pace's bill. This page believes this would be a positive step for boaters so that there is a common knowledge base for boat operation and safety. Hopefully, such a requirement would result in safer waterways for all.
Pace, appropriately, has proposed that the bill not take effect until Jan. 1, 2007, so that an appropriate licensure process can be created, reporting mechanisms established and any constitutional concerns addressed.
While a boating accident is the furthest thing on most people's minds as they recreate on many of Utah's waterways, Utah has its fair share of alcohol-related accidents. Alcohol, combined with speed and a lack of training would appear to be a recipe for disaster. Utah legislators should fully consider the ramifications before gutting the bill, as they did in the previous legislative session, which resulted in the bill dying in the Senate.
Although some lawmakers balk at the notion of more government control of private lives, the fact of the matter is, government has a legitimate health/safety interest in ensuring that boaters operate water craft in a safe manner.
Hopefully, lawmakers will see the wisdom in Pace's recommendations and help craft a law that will enhance safety and curb the heartbreak that many family members and friends experience when a loved one is severely injured or dies in an al—co—hol-related boating accident.