Interesting article on NH boating laws/MPs...

[Skip]

Another interesting article from the Sunday Foster's/Citizen on boating law enforcement and the Marine Patrol here in New Hampshire;

http://www4.fosters.com/june_2004/ju.../cit_0627b.asp

[Sandy Beach]

Another great piece of information. Thanks Skip. I (and I'm sure many others) appreciate your input. I found Director Barrett's statement regarding Boating While Intoxicated (BWI) very interesting.

Originally Posted by From Fosters

"While I see more and more registered boats each year, we do not have a proportionate increase in boating while intoxicated citations," Barrett said.

The question I ask is, has the Marine Patrol Activity proportionally increased with the number of boats? Their statistics go over the last 10 years with an increase in registered boats averaging 2% or 3% PER YEAR. Conservatively 20% over the last 10 years but could be 30% increase in registered NH boats over the last 10 years. Has Marine Patrol increased their coverage by 20 or 30% over the last 10 years? I don't think so.

The concern is that Director Barrett's statistics could be misleading. If we assume that the Marine Patrol is working at or near capacity, then they are already pulling over and ticketing (or issuing citations to) as many boats as they can. Adding 20 or 30% more boating violators without adding 20 or 30% more MP patrols will not result in more boat stops or citations. Therefore, I believe his claim about proportionally less BWI problems to be misleading regarding the problem of boating while intoxicated. The numbers show no proportional increase in CITATIONS, nothing about the level of VIOLATIONS for BWI. They can't measure it. The numbers may look good on paper but I see considerable alcohol consumption by those that drive boats on Lake Winnipesaukee. The problem is worse than it was years ago.

Am I missing something here?