‘Boozing Boater’ Bill OKd by State Senate Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would subject drunk boaters to penalties and sobriety standards similar to those for intoxicated automobile drivers.

The bill is the centerpiece of a legislative campaign to increase safety standards for California’s 2 million recreational boaters.

John Seymour (R-Anaheim), author of the “boozing boater” bill, said that although there are “obvious differences” between operating a boat and driving a car, tougher laws are needed on the waterways because of a recent increase in alcohol-related fatal accidents.

One example, Seymour noted, was an accident on Anaheim Bay on Halloween night, 1984, in which five people were killed when a power boat crashed into a buoy. The National Transportation Safety Board said intoxication of the boat’s operator was the major factor in the accident.

‘Gotten Out of Hand’

“It is time we tell people that this has gotten out of hand,” said Seymour, the Senate Republican Caucus chairman.

The measure, which was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 6-0 vote, is one of three boating safety bills pending in the Legislature.

The full Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would enact the state’s first age limit for boat operation--prohibiting youngsters under 14 from operating power boats of 10 or more horsepower without adult supervision.

That bill, by Senate Republican leader James W. Nielsen of Woodland, also would establish a manslaughter statute that would bring a prison sentence for boaters whose negligence causes deaths. Prosecutors now complain that boaters escape with mere fines and short jail sentences for the same degree of recklessness for which an automobile driver would go to prison under the “vehicular manslaughter” act.

Waterways Becoming Unsafe

On Monday, the Assembly Public Safety Committee passed a bill by Assemblyman Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton) that also would enact laws penalizing drunk boaters, restrict boat operation by minors under 12 and impose criminal penalties for boaters who leave the scene of an accident.

More than 600,000 pleasure craft now are navigating California’s coastal and inland waters, and legislators say these waterways are becoming increasingly overcrowded and unsafe.

A report released late last year by the state Department of Boating and Waterways estimated that alcohol was a factor in 59% of all fatal boating accidents during the two-year study period. The study also showed that underage boaters were involved in accidents at more than twice the rate of adult operators.

Establish Alcohol Limit

Besides toughening penalties, Seymour’s bill would establish the same .10% blood alcohol level for boaters that defines intoxication for automobile drivers. A boater who refuses to take a sobriety test would face an additional two to four days in jail on top of the sentence for operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol.

Initially, Seymour had sought to ban a convicted “boozing boater” from operating a vessel for three years. But some Judiciary Committee members argued that this provision would be unenforceable because California does not issue operator’s licenses for boaters.

Although Gov. George Deukmejian tried unsuccessfully to enact a boater licensing law in 1971, when he was a state senator, William H. Ivers, director of the state boating department, said his department would oppose a licensing requirement because it would be too costly to set up and administer.