What If I’m Injured by a Drunk Boat Operator?

This summer, you may have rented a boat or been invited on a friend’s or family member’s boat on the Jersey Shore. While launching a boat onto the Atlantic Ocean may lend to a party environment, it is necessary for you and your fellow passengers not to partake in too much alcohol consumption so as not to behave or act in a way that makes the boating experience unsafe. More importantly, the operator of the vessel should not allow themselves to get impaired by alcohol. This all but heightens the risk of a catastrophic boating accident on the water. With that being said, please follow along to find out what measures to take after being injured by a drunk boat operator and how a proficient Passaic County auto accident lawyer at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can help you recover physically, emotionally, and financially afterwards.

What are the consequences of boating under the influence?

The state of New Jersey treats boating while intoxicated (DWI) as harshly as driving while intoxicated (DWI). With that, a boat operator must not be found to have a blood-alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08 percent or higher. Otherwise, they may have both their boating and driving privileges suspended, along with getting hit with fines and a potential jail sentence.

For a first-offense BWI, an operator may get their boating license suspended for one year and their driving license for three months. This is in addition to a fine of anywhere between $250 to $400, jail time of up to 30 days, mandatory attendance at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) for at least 12 hours, and more. These criminal consequences are inevitably inflated if they had a high BAC level of 0.10 percent or higher, or if this is a subsequent offense.

What should I do if I’m injured due to a drunk boat operator?

You may have legal grounds to file a boat accident claim against the drunk operator who ultimately caused your injuries and damages. For this, though, you have a burden of proof in establishing that their intoxication was majorly or entirely to blame for the accident event.

And so, it is in your best interest to call local law enforcement to respond to the scene of your boating accident. From here, you may express your concerns to an officer so that they may have probable cause to request the boat operator to submit to a breathalyzer test and field sobriety testing.

From here, you may go as far as collecting testimonies from fellow passengers on the boat who may agree that the operator was behaving or acting impaired in the moments leading up to the accident event. This is not to mention other necessary evidence of your injuries, such as photos of your visible wounds, medical records and bills from your emergency room visit, and statements from your treating medical professionals.

Nonetheless, if you are ready to get started on your legal case, please retain the services of a talented Passaic County personal injury attorney as soon as you can. We at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis look forward to receiving your outreach.