Plans by the state government to introduce targeted alcohol testing on the water have been welcomed by the vice commander of Busselton Volunteer Marine Rescue, Brian LeCornu.
Mr LeCornu said if the legislation prevented people from doing the wrong thing on the water, he was all for it.
“You can get just as hurt on the water as you can in the motor car,” he said.
“Anything we can do to educate people is a benefit to us.”
The new legislation will enable the police, the Department of Transport and other marine authorities to breathalyse skippers they suspect to be operating a vessel under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Skippers with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 or above will be subject to penalties, which Department of Transport general manager marine safety Raymond Buchholz said are still “under consideration”.
Mr Buchholz told the Mail that they were currently preparing a submission for government consideration.
“It is anticipated that blood alcohol limits would align with those currently specified for road users in the Road Traffic Act 1974,” he said.
While it is illegal to drive under the influence on the water, WA is one of the only states where marine authorities are not empowered to breathalyse recreational or commercial skippers.
They must instead rely on “visual impairment” sobriety tests like spotting a boat driving recklessly.
Drivers who are deemed incapable this way of operating their vessels because of drugs and alcohol face a $1000 fine under the WA Marine Act.
No Water Police are based in Busselton, and Mr LeCornu doesn’t believe the introduction of the force would be necessary in the region.
“It isn’t a major issue down here so it wouldn’t be worth the resources. The majority of people down here are quite responsible,” he said.
“I think if the boating public know they need to be under the limit that is good enough, and, if we suspect they are over limit or doing something illegal we can report that to police right away and get police meet us.”
