Quote from Lake Sun Leader story: If the bill does make it through the session, it would lower the legal limit for boating while intoxicated from .10 blood alcohol content to .08. The legal limit would mirror the same limit drivers of motor vehicles face.
The bill would also stiffen the penalties, including banning repeat offenders from the waterways. Despite an aggressive crackdown on BWIs and ongoing educational efforts to encourage designated drivers, alcohol use continues to be a major issue on Lake of the Ozarks, Humphrey said.
Statistically, alcohol is estimated to be a contributing factor in more than 50 percent of fatalities and 30 percent of injuries related to boating activities which are caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol, according to reports.
Link to the article, if anyone wants to read it Lake Sun Leader
Only 30 percent of injuries are alcohol related, so why are they going after THAT aspect?? Why not go after inexperience, stupidity, laziness or just plain inattention as obviously those factors accout for the other 70%?? Just the other day an adult had TWO toddlers/kids on a PWC. As they were mooring to a boat, a 3 year old "accidentally" hit the throttle causing a mooring rope to wrap around and sever the arm of a 4 year old. Guess what...alcohol was NOT a factor, but that 4 year old still lost her arm.
Does .02 difference in a person's blood alcohol level make any real difference in the level of impairment? Helll, let's just change the law to .01 and be done with it. Test over that and lose your privleges/license for life. The way it stands now, you can't go out for dinner and have a couple of drinks or split a bottle of wine without being over the legal limit, yet the vast majority of folks aren't impaired. Drivers playing their God-awful eardrum splitting music, talking on their cellphones, watching videos and other stupid chit I think are more of a danger today than drunks.
Can you really "ban" a person from Missouri waterways? Helll, I ain't even sure you can ban them from operating a boat, considering there is no boating license...which I've heard is the Water Patrol's next big push so they have something to start taking away from folks.