WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
State Rep. Matt Lori announced this week that legislation he introduced, regarding a change to the legal blood-alcohol content for which boaters are considered legally drunk, has passed a vote by the State House Judiciary Committee.
The two bills set the legal blood-alcohol content for watercraft operators from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent. They also modify sentencing guidelines to make them conform to drunken-driving provisions of the Michigan Vehicle Code.
The matter now goes to a vote before the House.
Lori said he was determined to pursue the change following the 2005 death of a 7-year-old boy who was killed on a Cass County lake. The young man was riding on a tube when he was struck by a personal watercraft whose operator would have been legally drunk had the accident been caused by a motor vehicle.
The new, lower limit applies to operators of snowmobiles and off-road vehicles.
