The OPP and Canadian Safe Boating Council are teaming up to make Canadian waterways safer.
According to the OPP each year drinking and boating accounts for around 40% of boating related fatalities on Canadian waterways. The OPP and Canadian Safe Boating Council (CSBC) are launching the fifth year of Operation Dry Water. The goal of the initiative is to discourage the public from drinking and boating. The OPP say the August long weekend is a prime opportunity to remind the public that sun, wind, waves and the rocking motion of the boat can cause the effects of alcohol to be increased.
Police are reminding the public that being charged with Impaired Operation of a Vessel carries the same consequences as an impaired charge on the road and in Ontario that includes suspension of your license. Police say upon conviction a judge can prohibit operating a boat and that the repercussions of a criminal impairment conviction go well beyond the initial incident. In Ontario no one on board a boat can consume alcohol while it is underway. Only passengers on vessels with permanent sleeping, cooking and washroom facilities are permitted to consume alcohol, but only if docked or anchored.
The OPP say the initiative was made possible with the support of Transport Canada’s Office of Boating Safety. For more information go to www.csbc.ca.