Operation Dry Water Results Released - Nationwide Boating Under the Influence Crackdown

LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Operation Dry Water, a national heightened awareness and enforcement campaign targeting boating under the influence (BUI), held its annual BUI crackdown over the summer and has released the results from the targeted enforcement weekend.

Over the course of the three-day weekend, July 5 – 7, 2019, 736 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies participated in the Operation Dry Water campaign. From these agencies, 7,696 law enforcement officers conducted patrols resulting in a total of 563 boating under the influence arrests. The highest recorded blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was more than three times the legal limit at 0.309 percent. Officers also made more than 271,000 boater contacts while patrolling our nation's waterways, providing an opportunity for officers to educate boaters and help raise awareness about the significant dangers related to boating under the influence.

In addition to the results from the enforcement weekend, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) has also released the 2019 Operation Dry Water Annual Report. This report includes more details on the enforcement results, an overview of the campaign's media exposure and additional information on accidents and alcohol, the campaign's awareness and outreach efforts and the 2019 Operation Dry Water awards recipients.

The Operation Dry Water campaign is held annually over the three-day weekend nearest to July 4th, a holiday known for dangerous and deadly incidents related to drug and alcohol use on the water. The campaign facilitates increased public awareness of the dangers associated with impaired boating and the heightened enforcement of boating under the influence laws.

While alcohol remains the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents, the number of boating fatalities, accidents and injuries with alcohol use named as a contributing factor has decreased since the launch of the Operation Dry Water campaign in 2009.

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), through a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund administered by the U.S. Coast Guard, coordinates the Operation Dry Water campaign in partnership with law enforcement agencies and outreach partners nationwide.

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Operation Dry Water (ODW) is a year-round boating under the influence awareness and enforcement campaign with the mission of reducing the number of alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities through increased recreational boater awareness and by fostering a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol use on the water. http://www.operationdrywater.org.

SOURCE National Association of State Boating Law Administrators