Alcohol: on boats too!

Alcohol: on boats too!

"With this beautiful autumn, the season of aperitifs on the lake is deliciously prolonged... However, I was intrigued to hear several people tell me that there is no alcohol limit for boat drivers. How is that possible?"

You are right to be surprised: this dangerous belief developed around the less rigorous terminology of the legislation applying to boat drivers, compared with that intended for motorists, a peculiarity that was put an end to at the beginning of this year 2014.

In fact, the Federal Law on Inland Navigation (LNI) and its implementing ordinance simply stated that the licence would be withdrawn from anyone who piloted a boat while under the influence of alcohol, while their ability to drive was seriously impaired. Some deduced from this that the rules on alcohol consumption were more flexible on the water than on the road, given that no blood alcohol limit was set. In practice, however, several cantons applied the tables used for car drivers to assess the ability to drive a boat.

You may remember the tragic death of a swimmer hit by a drunken boat driver on Lake Biel in 2010; This case made Parliament aware of the need to tighten up the regulations, and new Articles 24a and 24b were added to the LNI. Essentially, they stipulate that anyone who is not physically or mentally fit to drive a boat, take part in its operation or provide nautical services on board a boat because they are under the influence of alcohol must refrain from doing so. Such persons may be required to take a breathalyser test or even a blood sample.

As always in the legislative process, Parliament tasked the Federal Council with adopting regulations on the procedure to be followed for breathalysing and taking blood samples from a person suspected of being unable to drive and determining the blood alcohol concentration above which, irrespective of other evidence and individual resistance to alcohol, a person is deemed to be unable to drive. Logically, the Federal Council's ordinance that came into force on 15 February 2014 adopts the regulations applicable to motorists by now setting at 0.5 %° the limit above which it is necessary to refrain from piloting a boat or participating in its operation and at 0.8%° the limit above which the licence of any offender will be compulsorily withdrawn.

So make the most of the last few fine days on the lake by spreading the word!