Lawmakers to Review "Boat" Bill
March 19, 2009
Los Angeles, California - To make waterways safer for ship and boat passengers, local officials are reviewing the new “Boat” bill that will allow the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend the license of boaters and carrier operators who are proven to operate under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
Safety experts and authorities believe that the new bill, which is called “Boating Under the Influence” or BUI, will lessen the occurrence of boating accident which usually increases during summer and spring.
According to earlier reports, US Coast Guard has estimated there are nearly 5,200 boat-related accidents in 2007 from more than 5,000 in the previous year. Despite a considerable increase, the agency said boat accident deaths decline from 710 in 2006 to 685 in 2007.
In terms of damages, the cost of boat accidents in the state reached $53 million in 2007 from $43 million in the previous year, according to Coast Guard.
The government agency also said boating accidents often involve driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs of the carrier/boat operator, reckless operation, over-speeding, and passenger’s negligence.
Another reason for boating accident deaths is caused by the lack of knowledge in boat safety of passengers. According to Coast Guard, more than two-thirds of accidents involved drowning, with almost 90 percent of victims were not wearing life jacket.
Meanwhile, the Department of Boating and Waterways (DBW) released a boat accident statistics which showed that nearly half of alcohol-related deaths in 2007 were passengers.
