Cops Enforcing New Boating & Drinking Law

While long weekends in Ontario have come to define carefree times with friends and family, they have also become inextricably linked with avoidable tragedies on the highways and waterways.  

But this year police have taken extra measures to target those who mix boating with alcohol.   A new law will give them the right to suspend an individual’s driver’s licence if he’s caught drinking behind the wheel of a watercraft.  

“If you blow a warn or an alert on an approved screening device, you could lose your licence for 24 hours,” explains P.C. Chris Hyland.

This law only recently came into effect, and just like on the roads and highways, police are out patrolling the rivers.

“The only time you can drink on a boat is if it is considered a residence,” Hyland adds.   “If you are at stock and the washing, cooking, sleeping are happening there you can be considered a residence.”

Hyland notes that inebriated boaters pose the same dangers that drunk drivers present on the roads.

“Your ability to operate a vessel is lessened the more you drink.  You endanger others, there are lots of people out here swimming.”

The government is hoping that by getting tough, it will cut down on the one stat that not even O.P.P. blitzes can seem to fix – the large number of drownings where alcohol is a factor.

In a four-year stretch from 1999 to 2003, 150 people lost their lives as a result of too much water combined with too much to drink.

And things haven’t gotten much better since then.

If you’re caught over the legal limit as you operate a ‘tight’ ship this weekend, here’s what you’ll be facing:

• An immediate 12-hour driver’s licence suspension for the “warn” range (0.05 to 0.08 blood alcohol concentration)
• An immediate driver’s licence suspension for 90 days if the boat operator blows over 0.08 or fails/refuses to blow
• A driver’s licence suspension of between one year and lifetime, depending on whether it is a first, second, or subsequent offence upon conviction for an offence under the Criminal Code
• A requirement to drive only ignition-interlock-equipped vehicles (or abstain from driving) for a period after reinstatement
• Mandatory alcohol assessment, education/treatment and follow-up
• Vehicle impoundment for driving a motor vehicle while under  suspension.
    

The new law also applies to non-motorized craft, including canoes. And cops vow they’ll be extra vigilant in enforcing it.