Michigan Tightens Drinking and Boating Limits

[GTBRMC]

Worth noting, Michigan has dropped the legal level for BAL for boat drivers from <0.10% to <0.08%

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/22/boating-safety-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-new-michigan-law-macomb-county-drown/27748203/

 

[Geiger41]

That's been the standard BAC in NJ for years now. Reason being, the states get more money from the feds for doing this. If they did not drop the BAC level then they would be at risk of losing ALOT of funding.

 

[aarons1k]

Worth noting, Michigan has dropped the legal level for BAL for boat drivers from <0.10% to <0.08%

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/22/boating-safety-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-new-michigan-law-macomb-county-drown/27748203/

Iowa just did this 2 years ago

 

[Ronnie]

.08 has been the law in ca for over a decade.

 

[Evildwarf]

Georgia law is also .08.
If a child under 14 is onboard then there is an added charge of child endangerment.
We only see DNR on Allatoona on busy weekends, especially a holiday weekend like this one.
A few years ago Georgia had some pretty terrible boating accidents involving impaired captains and the laws were stiffened.
Collisions still happen although the new law seems to have cut down on the frequency.

 

[justason]

NC is .08 as well. But the violation is a class 2 misdemeamor. Nothing is tied back to driving or your license. Also there is NO implied consent to a breath or chemical analysis while on a boat. All this applies to the pilot AND anyone on a towable, ski or such.

All applies to a vessel afloat.....motorized or not.
Beer and wine only on a boat. No mixed drinks/hard liquer.

My understanding is in order to get a DUI it has to have wheels in NC

 

[Ronnie]

in ca if you get a dui or a bui the penalties are the same , automatic suspension of your drivers license for one year for the first offense. If you are granted a waiver it is only to drive to and from work. Plus you have to take a few classes, pay fines/do community sercice, etc. the immediate financial cost is around $10k.

My buddy is an assistant District attorney and previously a public defender. His advice too me is that if I get pulled over and know that I'm over .08 is to refuse to take all sobriety field tests as well as refuse to give a breath, urine or blood sample, piss myself if I have to. The rationale being that you still be arrested immediately and will lose your license for a year but you can't be convicted of a dui. Which means no classes, lower fines and your auto insurance rates won't / shouldn't sky rocket as much. According to him the problem with this information is that most people don't know it (and think they must submit to testing) and those that do are to drunk to remember to use it when they should. This doesn't work if you are involved in an accident where injuries are involved. I generally don't drink so I shouldn't need to use or test his advice.

 

[Geiger41]

in ca if you get a dui or a bui the penalties are the same , automatic suspension of your drivers license for one year for the first offense. If you are granted a waiver it is only to drive to and from work. Plus you have to take a few classes, pay fines/do community sercice, etc. the immediate financial cost is around $10k.

My buddy is an assistant District attorney and previously a public defender. His advice too me is that if I get pulled over and know that I'm over .08 is to refuse to take all sobriety field tests as well as refuse to give a breath, urine or blood sample, piss myself if I have to. The rationale being that you still be arrested immediately and will lose your license for a year but you can't be convicted of a dui. Which means no classes, lower fines and your auto insurance rates won't / shouldn't sky rocket as much. According to him the problem with this information is that most people don't know it (and think they must submit to testing) and those that do are to drunk to remember to use it when they should. This doesn't work if you are involved in an accident where injuries are involved. I generally don't drink so I shouldn't need to use or test his advice.

Do that stuff in NJ and you will get enough summonses to play a few rounds of poker with. Along with some criminal obstructions charges...fines may equal out in the end. But still will be charged with DWI, just a DWI with no reading. If the officer is on point and knows what he is doing he could still get the conviction. Normally it wont go that far b/c the other party will more then likely plea out. Guess the best advice is don't get to that point in the first place and it will never be an issue.

 

[whaler7626]

I thought that there was some new law passed that prevented the federal government from bullying states into submission with funding threats. It is absurd the govt can do this to states.

 

[justason]

NC is .08 as well. But the violation is a class 2 misdemeamor. Nothing is tied back to driving or your license. Also there is NO implied consent to a breath or chemical analysis while on a boat. All this applies to the pilot AND anyone on a towable, ski or such.

All applies to a vessel afloat.....motorized or not.
Beer and wine only on a boat. No mixed drinks/hard liquer.

My understanding is in order to get a DUI it has to have wheels in NC

UPdate: NC passed a new law recently based off a death outside Charlotte last year http://wpde.com/news/local/carolinas-agree-on-boating-under-the-influence-bui-now-a-felony-in-both-states

As a result, people in North Carolina can now be charged with a felony BUI - boating under the influence.

you know they WRC will be in force on the lakes this weekend....Be smart, Be safe

 

[Speedling]

Indiana is .08
However, from my understanding anything over .05 is up to the DNR's discretion and will be held up in court as a BUI.

 

[bronze_10]

in ca if you get a dui or a bui the penalties are the same , automatic suspension of your drivers license for one year for the first offense. If you are granted a waiver it is only to drive to and from work. Plus you have to take a few classes, pay fines/do community sercice, etc. the immediate financial cost is around $10k.

My buddy is an assistant District attorney and previously a public defender. His advice too me is that if I get pulled over and know that I'm over .08 is to refuse to take all sobriety field tests as well as refuse to give a breath, urine or blood sample, piss myself if I have to. The rationale being that you still be arrested immediately and will lose your license for a year but you can't be convicted of a dui. Which means no classes, lower fines and your auto insurance rates won't / shouldn't sky rocket as much. According to him the problem with this information is that most people don't know it (and think they must submit to testing) and those that do are to drunk to remember to use it when they should. This doesn't work if you are involved in an accident where injuries are involved. I generally don't drink so I shouldn't need to use or test his advice.

Not sure about boating but that doesn't work for a dwi in a car.. a signed seach warrant for a blood draw and the back is determined for later us in court.... I would be interested to know how it applies to boating. ... a few weeks ago in was in salemburg for training. That's where all the wildlife guys are trained. .. I could have asked any of them.. but too late. Safest advice.... don't drink and captian a boat... (I said safest not the most popular).

 

[bronze_10]

http://nccriminallaw.sog.unc.edu/boating-while-impaired/

For those interested in nc bui law... read this... the Inc school of government is an amazing resource for law searches.

 

[Ronnie]

Not sure about boating but that doesn't work for a dwi in a car.. a signed seach warrant for a blood draw and the back is determined for later us in court.... I would be interested to know how it applies to boating. ... a few weeks ago in was in salemburg for training. That's where all the wildlife guys are trained. .. I could have asked any of them.. but too late. Safest advice.... don't drink and captian a boat... (I said safest not the most popular).

Getting a search warrant signed is generally not a quick and easy thing to do.

 

[bronze_10]

Getting a search warrant signed is generally not a quick and easy thing to do.

A search warrant for a blood draw is a cookie cutter search warrant... nothing like one to search a house.

 

[Ronnie]

It still has to be signed and executed before the subject sobers up, per my law practicing friends (I'm a non practicing but active member of the CA state bar), this usually does not happen quickly enough especially if the request for such a warrant comes in at night / after normal business hours.

 

[MattFX4]

well good to know as of today in Georgia, I can float on a raft, or any other non-motorized boat and drink all the booze I want. Maybe I need to trade my boat in for a large inflatable raft.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/floating-under-the-influence-is-this-close-to-bein/nqfcb/

 

[bronze_10]

It still has to be signed and executed before the subject sobers up, per my law practicing friends (I'm a non practicing but active member of the CA state bar), this usually does not happen quickly enough especially if the request for such a warrant comes in at night / after normal business hours.

We have magistrates on duty 24 7 so it's not an issue... the body metabolize .01 per hour.. so if they are at .08.. ehhh... but anything much more than that and it is no problem. And remember... u can still have a dwi while less than .08... .07 .06 and even some .05 are not unheard of... it only has to prove Impairment.. that happens at different levels for different people

 

[Speedling]

It usually takes at least 2 odoull's to impare me!

 

[MattFX4]

Here is an interesting link...According to this, you can drink two beers in the first hour, then one beer every hour after and maintain a .05 BAC. I would like to test this.

http://www.attorneydwi.com/bacperdrink.html