Under the influence

Authorities put the spotlight on another class of impaired drivers: those on the water.

By Tom Spalding and Abbie VanSickle

tom.spalding@indystar.com

July 25, 2003

When alcohol is involved, a boater doesn't have to be behind the helm or in a collision for a day on the waves to turn deadly.

Onboard boozing, Indiana authorities say, poses dangers far greater than drinking on dry land. Even a few light beers, coupled with exposure to heat, sun, engine exhaust fumes and vibrations, increase a person's chance of getting hurt or dying.

Last month, beer was involved in the accident that claimed the life of Michael Holifield on Geist Reservoir.

From 2000 to 2002, nine of the 35 fatalities on the state's waterways were alcohol-related, according to Indiana Department of Natural Resources statistics.

But Indiana remains about average when it comes to preventing drinking and boating, according to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, and there is little likelihood the state would see tougher laws or more policing in the near future. The association's deputy director, John Johnson, said in the mid-1990s, many states -- Indiana included -- lowered the blood-alcohol levels allowed for boaters and personal watercraft operators. Indiana dropped its limit to .08. Since then, Johnson said, change has been slow.

"Most states don't do anything significant with drinking and boating," Johnson said.

Unlike states such as Florida, Indiana does not require training for all boaters, and state laws allow them to have a cold one in hand out on the water.

But toughening Indiana's drinking and boating laws is not a top priority, legislators say.

"I don't foresee anything new happening," said Sen. Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange. "There hasn't been any current update on our laws."

Beefed-up patrols

More than $1 million pulled in from increased boater registration fees will put more officers out on the water to spot drunken boaters, Meeks said.

But that may not be enough to curb the number of accidents.

It is far more difficult to detect a dangerously intoxicated operator on the water than it is on the street, where ignoring center lines, traffic lights or other controls draws a police officer's attention.

"You don't have the same thing to measure it by," said Sgt. Paul Thompson of the Marion County Sheriff's Department, who heads the agency's marine unit patrolling Geist and Eagle Creek.

Yet a 2000 study by the North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center showed that recreational boat passengers were just as likely as operators to die as the result of drinking alcohol.

Even with a blood-alcohol content of only .01 percent, the risk to operators and passengers was 30 percent greater than for people with no alcohol in their blood, the researchers said. It didn't matter whether the boat was moving or stationary. Most of the victims drowned.

In other words, in a car, a sober designated driver may keep soused passengers safe, the study showed, but would make little difference for boat passengers. And researchers with the study said 30 percent to 40 percent of boaters admitted to drinking on the water.

"During these hot days, people want to go out in a boat," said Marie Greger-Smith, chairwoman of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Indiana. "They have to be cautious and realize they can die on the waterways as well as they can on the highways."

There were 218,477 boats registered in Indiana in 2002, a number that's declined in the past few years but still more than the 195,000 seven years ago. Officials estimate that, on a busy weekend, 1,000 boats crowd both Geist and Morse reservoirs. Statewide, 33 people have been arrested so far this year on a charge of drunken boating. Since 1997, an average of 119 boaters a year have been booked on the misdemeanor offense.

The problem of stemming dangerous drinking is made tougher when considering:

• The main state agency asked to patrol waterways, the 194-officer Department of Natural Resources, is short by 21 people. Recruits were hired but don't start work until 2004.

• Indiana's lack of a law banning open cans or bottles of alcohol on vessels leaves marine patrol officers with little leverage to stop drinking boaters before trouble hits.

• Except for minors and in some special cases, no special license is needed to operate a boat. And no other formal training or education is required.

In the case of the suspected drowning June 27 in Geist Reservoir, it so far appears that no laws were broken.

The circumstances of Holifield's death have yet to be released, but a passenger, Jennifer Kostic, 21, of Indianapolis, told The Star there were seven people on the boat and most, if not all, had cans of cold beer in an ice chest, and had been drinking some all day -- but no one was drunk. The night of the accident, investigators gave all boaters at the scene a breath test, and they all tested below the legal limit.

That situation may be legal, but safety experts say that doesn't mean it is safe.

"Just because somebody isn't legally drunk doesn't mean they aren't impaired," said Sgt. Dean Shadley, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. "A lot of people don't realize that."

Knows the dangers

Bruce Taylor of Carmel said he understands the hazards of alcohol. He and a half-dozen friends were happily boarding another friend's pontoon boat at a Geist Reservoir marina on a recent Thursday evening -- carting a few six-packs.

"Everybody who comes out on the lake is going to drink and have a good time," Taylor said. "If you're going to be stupid, you're going to be stupid."

Taylor said he knows that his motor skills drop when he's had a few cocktails. So he keeps a life vest on in those situations and doesn't dive head-first into the water.

"Again, it's that common sense thing," he said.

Harold Hester Jr., 34, of Franklin Township in southeastern Marion County, has a different view.

"Beer and water -- beer and the river -- doesn't mix," said the house painter and recreational fisherman. "It's not like a vehicle where you can get out and stand on the ground. You get out to stand in water, you'll drown."