"It's your boat ... it's your responsibility"

Sometimes that responsibility is a 40,000 pound houseboat, or a 100 mph hydro, neither of which have brakes

MADD of Shasta County supports no alcohol consumption for boat captains. A captain's full sobriety helps avoid collisions with other vessels and swimmers. Sober boat captains can better respond in emergencies and are better able to care for the safety of their passengers, who may be intoxicated themselves.

MADD of Shasta County asks you to support legislation to restrict a vessel operator's ability to consume alcohol, similar to the open container law we have in California for motor vehicles.

This is the law MADD proposes for Shasta County. Our efforts will work through the California State Legislature by legal process to make it a reality.

Feel free to write us with your support.

Sample County Ordinance
Shasta County Code
12.24.(to be determined)

Sample language as follows:

12.24. TBD- Vessel Operator- alcoholic beverage consumption- restrictions
"No person having possession or control of a vessel shall possess or consume , or knowingly permit possession or consumption by any designee operating said vessel, any open alcoholic beverage while the vessel is underway on a public waterway".

Purpose

Enacting a county ordinance to allow Shasta County Sheriffs Boating Safety Unit to more effectively deal with the serious issue of impaired and intoxicated vessel operators within the county. Currently it is legal for an adult vessel operator to possess, and consume, an alcoholic beverage while operating a vessel. It is not legal for a driver operating a motor vehicle to do so.

History

Shasta County Boating Safety Deputies regularly come in contact with vessel operators actively consuming alcohol while underway. This behavior leads to distracted attention by the vessel operator. Deputies should be given the tool of law to directly address the problem of drinking while operating the vessel, instead of other less applicable laws. Over 60 percent of all boating fatalities are alcohol related-(source U.S. Coast Guard).

Scope/ Definitions

For purposes of the law the ordinance should deal with all vessels and areas as already specified in the code. The definition of an alcoholic beverage is already within the different codes. The term underway will need to be defined but generally means any movement from shore powered or otherwise. Nothing in the proposed law would prevent a vessel operator from consuming alcohol while moored to shore, however it would be illegal to do so anywhere on a public body of water, not attached to land, whether moored or not. For purposes of the code it is also applicable while at anchor (generally using the same intent and purpose as the vehicle code for motor vehicles, i.e.- no open alcohol while operating). If the vessel has been put in the water, and it is not moored to shore by use of ropes or other securing devices, it is deemed "underway". As an example, technically, a deputy could write a citation for a vessel operator in violation of the above ordinance if the vessel operator had just launched and was sitting at a boat dock but was not moored, and was consuming alcohol. The ordinance is intended for public waterways and does not address vessel operators on private property.

Evidence

A National Transportation Safety Board study concluded it takes only a third as much alcohol to impair a boater's balance, judgment and coordination, so having two beers on the water can impair your abilities as much as drinking a six-pack on land, (source U.S. Coast Guard)
A boat operator with a blood alcohol concentration above .10 is ten times more likely to be killed in a boating accident than a boater with zero blood alcohol concentration. As previously mentioned, alcohol effects your balance, vision, judgment and coordination. Research has shown that alcohol, combined with boating stressors, such as sun, wind, noise, vibration and motion, can impair a person much faster than alcohol consumption on land. Drinking alcohol produces certain physiological responses that directly affect the safety of everyone around the water. Such responses include:
Diminished judgment, motor skills, peripheral vision, balance, and the ability to process information.
Slowed reaction and reflexive response time.
Reduced depth perception, night vision and focus.
An inner ear disturbance, which can make it impossible for someone suddenly immersed in water to distinguish up from down.
An accelerated onset of hypothermia, if a person has been consuming alcohol and is immersed in water.
Increased alcohol absorption-for every 18-degree increase in air temperature (above room temperature) the body's absorption rate for alcohol doubles. That means that alcohol is absorbed twice as fast at 93 degrees than at 75 degrees

Enactment and Public Acceptance

Currently it is illegal for any operator of a motor vehicle to consume alcohol and/or possess and open alcoholic beverage while driving. Public awareness of this law is very high, a) because it is common sense, b) because it is the law, c) because there has been substantial education campaigns about this activity.
Because the public has already been educated about the effects of alcohol and motor vehicles logically extending laws of prohibition to vessels should be readily accepted.

Action

MADD, as a part of its community service campaign in addressing BUI and DUI, supports enacting any law allowing law enforcement to more efficiently do their job.
MADD, respectfully, requests the Sheriff of Shasta County support the investigation, establishment, and enactment of this proposed county ordinance . MADD, respectfully, requests the Sheriff of Shasta County assist in getting this ordinance adopted and accepted through legal process, (County Counsel, Board of Supervisors).
MADD, respectfully, requests Assemblyman LaMalfa assist in carrying forward a legislative bill allowing Shasta County to address the issues it has because of alcohol use by vessel captains on it’s waterways.