Alabama Marine Patrol troopers are putting extra boats on the water this weekend as part of a nationwide push to cut down on alcohol-related boating accidents along the state’s rivers, bays and coastal waterways, including those popular with Mobile and Baldwin county boaters.
The stepped-up patrols are part of Operation Dry Water, a campaign launched in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard. Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol Division are adding additional units from Friday through Sunday, focusing on the holiday stretch leading into the Fourth of July, historically one of the deadliest periods for boating accidents nationwide.
According to the Coast Guard’s most recent recreational boating statistics, alcohol was a primary factor in 277 boating crashes nationally, contributing to 108 of 610 total boating deaths and causing nearly 250 injuries in a single year. The Coast Guard has identified alcohol as the single leading contributing factor in recreational boater deaths.
Col. John E. Richardson, director of ALEA’s Department of Public Safety, urged boaters to take a pledge against drinking and driving on the water. He asked residents to never operate a boat while intoxicated, never put themselves or passengers at risk, and never treat boating under the influence as anything less than dangerous.
National reporting shows accidents spike sharply in July, with close to 1,000 crashes and more than 120 deaths recorded in that month alone in recent data, accounting for roughly a fifth of all boating fatalities for the year. Alabama officials say the extra patrols are meant to head off that pattern before it starts, particularly around the busy holiday weekend when waterways across Mobile and Baldwin counties see heavy recreational traffic.
The push comes a few months after a crash on the Intracoastal Waterway in Baldwin County left three people injured, including a bystander on land struck during the collision. Investigators cited intoxication as a factor in that wreck, though no one was killed. No injuries or fatalities were immediately reported from patrols tied to this year’s operation.
Marine Patrol officials say the extra troopers will be checking for standard safety violations in addition to impairment, including missing life jackets and improperly registered vessels, as boaters head out for the holiday. Officials are encouraging anyone heading onto Alabama waters this summer to designate a sober operator, much as they would before getting behind the wheel of a car.