DEM cracking down on impaired boating

By: Chloe Leshner

cleshner@abc6.com

@cleshnerABC6

Summer in the Ocean State wouldn’t be complete without time spent on the water. Officials are asking that boaters use extra caution, this holiday weekend. The fourth of July is one of the busiest weekends on the water and DEM officials are cracking down, keeping an extra eye out for drunk boaters.
They’re getting out on the water and making contact with boaters, making sure everyone’s following the rules this holiday weekend.
"We don’t want to affect people’s good time but we certainly want to make sure they’re doing it safely," says Harold Guise a DEM police officer.

There will be more officers out on extra patrols checking for the usual fishing and safety violations, with an emphasis on impaired boating. It’s a part of operation dry water, a nation wide effort to cut down on drunk boating.

"There’s a lot of people who think drinking and boating go together and it’s just not true," says Guise.

Alcohol is the leading cause of recreational boating deaths and there are factors on the water that drivers just don’t face on the road.

"You’re adding a whole other part into it, winds and tides and current," says Guise.

And on the open water help won’t be able to come as quickly.

"You need to prepared to handle all situations until help arrives and if you’re under the influence, you may not be able to help your family, kids or your friends in that situation," says Guise.

In Rhode Island, the limits and penalties are the same for drunk driving and boating.

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