Felony BUI

Sit in any Oklahoma bar and, if you ask, you will be regaled with tales of, “When I got my DUI.” That’s sad enough, but this time of year, the cops are out arresting people for the less common, BUI. Boating Under the Influence carries the same penalties as drunk driving. And with the Labor Day weekend, police are expecting to once again come out in strength to enforce the laws.

Unlike driving, where an open beverage in the car can be illegal all by itself, boaters commonly have a cooler or two of alcoholic beverages. Many think of it as part of the fun. The rules are that whoever is operating the boat has to have a BAC less than 0.08% -- the same as drivers of motor vehicles. If there is alcohol in the boat, they have probable cause to use a breathalyzer on the “Captain.” And they will.

From a distance, officers will use binoculars to scan for suspicious boaters. They look for things like risky operation, standing up in the boat, or any unsafe behaviors. That’s enough to suspect alcohol and trigger an investigation. Without the ability to perform some of the field sobriety tests (like walking a straight line), officers will usually rely on eye movement (nystagmus) indicative of intoxication, slurred speech or the smell of alcohol. From there, the gold standard is the breathalyzer.

Just like a stop for DUI in a car, if there is no one who is qualified to operate the boat after an arrest – no one sober or no other adult – then the boat will be towed and impounded. This can be quite a shock to the naive boater who isn’t aware of the rules. But that’s not the cops’ fault. They are working hard to get the word out in the media.

The punishments are a little different for BUI, since there is no driver’s license involved, but the fine is still heavy -- $2,500 in total costs. And courts may require additional things like DUI School or a boater safety course. Plus, it goes on your record in the same way a DUI does and may have all the associated insurance costs.