With the August long weekend in full swing, Ontario Provincial Police are making sure everyone out on the water is safe.
While many people will kick back with an adult beverage or two over the Civic Holiday weekend, the OPP is making sure that those who do are not operating a boat through a program called Operation Dry Water.
Just as driving a motor vehicle can impair a person's ability to react to what is going on, an impaired boater can experience the same effects. Throw in the boat's rocking motion on the water, waves, wind and sun and the effects can be intensified.
The OPP says drinking and boating accidents account for about 40% of all boating-related deaths in Canada. With that, the OPP is teaming up with the Canadian Safe Boating Council for a safety initiative. Police are stepping up patrols of waterways across the province looking for boaters who may be impaired.
Piloting a boat while under the influence holds the same legal consequences as driving a car when drinking, police say.
Ontario law prohibits consumption of alcohol by anyone on board a vessel while it is underway. Boats that have permanent sleeping, cooking and toilet facilities are exempt but only when anchored or docked.
For more information on the sober boating initiative, click here.
