Published: July 07, 2008 10:53 pm      

DNR proposing boating blood alcohol change

If you row or use an outboard, don’t drink and ride.

Not only is your chance of winding up dead in the water strong, but, if West Virginia lawmakers go along with the idea, the Division of Natural Resources will have a little more cushion to arrest you next year.

Before the Legislature in the 2009 session is a proposed rule change that would make the blood alcohol content under which a boater may be arrested conform with the .08 standard for motorists.

West Virginia lowered its benchmark from .10 when Bob Wise was governor, taking advantage of an opportunity to capture more federal highway dollars.

“The administrative rule was never changed to reflect that change in the code,” Lt. Col. Jerry Jenkins of the DNR’s law enforcement section explained Monday.

“All we’re doing is changing the administrative rule which covers boating so it matches the state code on driving.”

As with driving on the highway, boat operators may imbibe provided their BAC doesn’t get up to the chargeable level, Jenkins said.

“You can drink, but you can’t be intoxicated,” he said. “Same as a vehicle.”

DNR officers must have probable cause, but can approach a boat in a river or lake to administer a sobriety test.

“You can’t do the walk and turn like you do on the road, but we have some other tests we give them on the boat to see if they are impaired,” Jenkins said.

“There has to be some violation we observe. It may be that the registration is not correct. Or the erratic operation of the boat. If they’re already stopped, we just pull up to them to see if they’re safety equipped.”

In lieu of pulling off onto the berm, the boat operator may be asked to move over to the shoreline. Tests can be administered right in the water.

“We have the finger and nose test, or we can ask them to recite the alphabet,” Jenkins said.

“There are different things we can do on the boats.”

Without an actual boating license, there is nothing to revoke, but operating a craft while drunk is taken seriously by the DNR. A first offense brings a jail term of two days to a year, and a fine ranging from $200 to $1,000. For second offenses, the penalty is doubled.

Jenkins cited national statistics showing that alcohol abuse was a factor in 21 percent of all fatalities involving boats.

“One of the biggest problems we have is boater education,” he said.

“Seventy to 80 percent of the accidents we have were caused by people who have never taken the boater education course. Anybody born after Jan. 31, 1986, has to have a boating education certificate to be able to operate a boat. People born prior to that day are grandfathered in.”

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A second rule the DNR is taking before the Legislature entails a new twist in black powder rifle hunting — the electric ignition.

Behind the proposed change is a new model produced by Connecticut Valley Arms known as the “Electra,” which employs a battery in lieu of a flintlock as the ignition.

“We’re proposing the ignition source, such as the battery, has to be removed from the rifle while it is carried in a vehicle,” Jenkins said.

The idea is to prevent the muzzleloader from discharging inside a vehicle, he explained.

On its Web site, CVA describes the new series as “like no other muzzleloaders on earth,” featuring an electronic ignition that is totally sealed from the elements.

“No parts other than the barrel have to be cleaned of fouling — ever,” CVA proclaims.

Jenkins said the DNR rule would cover any other futuristic changes.

“We kind of made it generic so when a new gun manufacturer comes out with whatever they come out to in the future, we just say the ignition source has to be removed,” he said.

“We won’t have to go back every year to revisit whatever they may come up with.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com