Story Published:
May 16, 2008 at 2:41 PM CST
Story Updated:
May 16, 2008 at 2:41 PM CST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's threshold for drunken boating on lakes and major rivers soon could be lowered to the same level as that for motorists. Legislation sent to the governor on Friday would drop the legal blood-alcohol limit to 0.08 percent.
The bill also would require boats to travel at no-wake speeds within 100 feet of the Water Patrol and other emergency vessels with red or blue lights. It would apply to lakes and the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
Another provision lets previous convictions in municipal courts, just as in circuit courts and associate circuit courts, count in determining whether someone is a repeat drunken driver or drunken boater. The state Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that they do not count.
Lawmakers in 2001 lowered the roadway drunken driving threshold to 0.08 percent. Several previous attempts to lower the boating-while-intoxicated standard from .10 percent failed.
