It is unlawful for a person to operate a vessel (boat) while intoxicated or impaired by drugs and/or alcohol.
Drunk Boating Defense
The laws covering drunk boating are contained within the Marine Safety portion of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (the “Act”). This Act makes it unlawful for a person to operate a vessel (boat) while intoxicated or impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. A vessel is defined broadly enough to include any manner water craft capable of being used for transportation. The term “operation” means to be in control of a boat while underway. For purposes of this Act, one does not operate a boat while it is secured to a dock or at anchor.
According to the Act, a drinking boater may be charged with either the common law “boating under the influence” or the statutory “boating with an unlawful bodily alcohol content.” However, because these laws were not “updated” in 2003 the “legal limit” for drunk boating remains at 0.10. Additionally, and also unlike drunk driving, there is no zero tolerance for having the bodily presence of a controlled substance while boating, and one may not be charged or convicted for being under the influence of prescription medication.
Another form of drunk boating is the “visibly impaired” offense. Like drunk driving, boating while visibly impaired requires only that the prosecutor prove the boater’s ability to operate the boat was “visibly impaired” by the consumption of alcohol. It is also unlawful to knowingly allow an intoxicated person to operate a boat, but there is no “zero tolerance” for boaters who are under 21 years of age. Thus, unlike drunk driving, under age drunk boaters are treated just like their adult counterparts.
If a drunk boater causes a death, then he or she can be charged with a homicide, and Michigan has an additional serious (felony) criminal offense if a boater causes a serious injury through the use of a vessel. What constitutes a serious injury is considered on a case-by-case basis, but statutorily includes serious impairment of a body function, serious permanent disfigurement, or the causing of serious brain damage. A current offense might also be enhanced to a felony on the basis of two prior drunk boating convictions.
Otherwise, with the exception of the “presumptions” described below, the evidence and proofs needed to prove a drunk boating charge are much like those that apply in a drunk driving case. The available defenses to the charges are also very similar.
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