As the summer recreational boating season gets into full swing, the Maryland Natural Resources Police will join this weekend with the Coast Guard and other maritime law enforcement agencies for Operation Dry Water, a nationwide crackdown on alcohol- and drug-impaired boaters.
From Deep Creek Lake and the Potomac River, to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, NRP officers take part in saturation patrols beginning Friday, looking for boaters whose blood alcohol content exceeds the state limit of .08.
The goal of the three-day campaign that combines messages about the dangers of boating under the influence and an increased police presence on the water, aims to drastically reduce the number of accidents and deaths due to impaired boating.
“Protecting the public goes to the heart of our mission,” said Col. George F. Johnson IV, NRP superintendent. “Alcohol and drugs can have a profound effect on a boater’s judgment, balance, vision and reaction time. Operation Dry Water makes it clear that Maryland has no tolerance for alcohol- or drug-impaired boaters.”
Read More Here: http://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2015/06/25/nrp-joining-operation-dry-water-this-weekend-to-nab-impaired-boaters/
