Drinking on the water

Many people have a good time in the summer tubing and canoeing on rivers or boating and swimming at lakes. For some, the fun is enhanced by drinking. But the recent death of a young man from Cape Girardeau in a drinking-related accident at Lake of Egypt is a reminder that water is not a benign environment for partying.

Law enforcement does a good job of addressing the dangers of drinking and driving. Drinking and driving a boat is becoming more and more of a problem. Last year, the Missouri Water Patrol arrested 475 people for boating while intoxicated, most of them at Lake of the Ozarks. That ranked the state No. 1 in the nation for intoxicated boating arrests.

In Missouri a blood alcohol content of 0.10 constitutes intoxication for a driver of a boat.

Alcohol consumption on the water poses dangers for both the drinkers and for others recreating in their vicinity.