The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) used the busy Fourth of July weekend this year to send boaters a clear message about drinking and driving on the water.
NRP heightened their enforcement from July 4-6 during “Operation Dry Water” and made nine arrests for Operating While Under the Influence of Alcohol (OUI). That’s the highest number of Operation Dry Water arrests in six years.
Operation Dry Water is a national initiative launched 15 years ago by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. Maryland and Virginia both participate annually. Maryland and Virginia both participate annually. Officers conduct “saturation patrols” in which the agency increases patrols in areas where drinking and boating are known to happen.
In Virginia, strong thunderstorms hampered some patrols this Fourth of July weekend. But two boat operators were charged with Boating Under the Influence in the Bay region.
In Maryland, this year’s arrests took place in the Choptank River in Cambridge, Rock Creek, Ocean City, Bear Creek, Middle River, and two in Western Maryland’s Deep Creek Lake. Two of the people arrested were operating personal watercraft, and one was involved in a PWC collision. Others were initially stopped for lack of navigation lights, then charged with OUI.
In Maryland, the consequences for drunk boating offenders has gotten steeper this year. “Nick’s Law” just went into effect as of July 1, 2024. It allows the courts to ban OUI offenders from operating a vessel in state waters for up to two years. If the OUI case resulted in a death, the offender can be banned from boating in Maryland for up to five years. Until this year, the maximum boating ban for an OUI offender was just one year, or two years for fatal incidents.
“Nick’s Law” was introduced in connection with the death of a 21-year-old college student on the West River in 2022. As Chesapeake Bay Magazine reported, college lacrosse player Nick Barton was a passenger on a center-console that struck a channel marker piling and threw six people into the water.
The operator of the center-console, Shayne Smith, also 21, was found to be under the influence at the time he was driving the boat. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Both Maryland and Virginia’s legal limit for alcohol while boating is the same as operating a motor vehicle: a Blood Alcohol Content under 0.08.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Law Enforcement Major Ryan Shuler tells boaters, “Help us ensure the waterways are safe… all summer long by always designating a sober operator if there is alcohol on board. Boating under the influence is just like drunk driving – unacceptable, illegal, and deadly.”
