As Memorial Day weekend approaches — perhaps the busiest day on Lake Lanier — seasoned boaters face a toughened law designed to make the lake safer. Last week it became illegal for anyone with a blood-alcohol content of .08 to operate a boat.
That’s the same legal threshold as for drunken driving in a car. Previously, the legal limit for boaters was .10. The difference amounts to about five beers instead of six in two hours for a man weighing 180 pounds.
The new law addresses more than drinking, and some boaters say even more steps are needed to train people on water safety and to enforce those regulations.
Starting next year, the state will require people born after July 1, 1998, to take a state-approved boating safety and education course to operate a vessel; and anyone who rents a watercraft with a 10-horsepower engine or larger will have to take an abbreviated course, although the law allows for rental businesses to give instruction the same day.
via Boaters face tougher law this Memorial Day weekend: Some… | www.myajc.com.
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