LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) Marine Patrol Unit is participating in Operation Dry Water Friday through Sunday.
LCSO Marine Patrol deputies will be out in force specifically looking for signs of boaters operating while impaired during the weekend.
According to LCSO Sgt. Steve Brooks, Operation Dry Water was first launched in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard. The program is coordinated by NASBLA, in partnership with the states, Coast Guard and other agencies.
Brooks said the program has successfully drawn public attention to the hazards of boating under the influence (BUI) of alcohol and drugs.
The BUI enforcement and detection program is held in June prior to the Fourth of July holiday. The program”s goal is to reduce the number of alcohol and drug-related crashes and fatalities and foster a stronger, more visible deterrent to alcohol and drug use on the water.
Brooks said in 2011, all 50 states and six U.S. territories participated in the program. During that three-day weekend, 43,777 vessels and 97,648 boaters were contacted by law enforcement, 325 BUI arrests were made and 4,370 citations and 8,763 warnings were issued for safety violations.
Brooks said Coast Guard data from 2011 revealed alcohol was a primary contributing factor in 16 percent of fatalities from recreational boating crashes.
Operating a boat with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is against federal and state law.
