We all know that drinking and driving can lead to serious and damaging car accidents. The same is true when operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol.
Statistics and insight from the U.S. Coast Guard outline the impact that alcohol can have on boat operators. Before you step onto a boat in the Biscayne Bay, offshore or along other waterways in and around Miami, you may want to be aware of these stats
Did you know… (info from the USCG website):
- A boat operator is likely to become impaired more quickly than a driver, drink for drink
- The use of alcohol is involved in about a third of all recreational boating fatalities
- A boat operator with a blood alcohol concentration above .10 percent is estimated to be more than 10 times as likely to die in a boating accident than an operator with zero blood alcohol concentration. Passengers are also at greatly increased risk for injury and death – especially if they are also using alcohol.
Stay safe out there. Boating accidents occur with frequency in Miami due to the amount of boaters out on the water. You can vastly reduce your chance of an incident (and bypass needing a boat accident lawyer) by keeping the intake of alcohol to a minimum while on the water.
For more information regarding boating accidents or injuries, please contact the Miami maritime lawyers of Waks and Barnett, P.A. at 800-905-2891.