Wisconsin Third Highest for Boating Deaths
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013 -- 8:20 AM
-Wisconsin had the nation's third-highest number of alcohol-related boating deaths last year. That was the same year a legislative bill to stiffen penalties on drunken boaters fell flat.Intoxicated boating killed eight people in the state last year. That ranks Wisconsin behind only New York and Florida.
Republican state Rep. Garey Bies represents a district with more than 300 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline in Door and Kewaunee counties. In late 2011 he proposed a bill that would have prohibited a person from driving a boat for at least 12 months after a drunken-boating offense.
The bill died in committee. But Republican Rep. Andre Jacque, the bill's co-sponsor, says he thinks it may have a better chance if it's reintroduced this summer.
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