By Thomas Maronick Jr.

BUIs are becoming more common and have, unfortunately, increased since the start of the pandemic. Just like a Driving Under the Influence charge, Maryland law § 8-738 states that any test results indicating a Blood Alcohol Content (or BAC) of .08 or higher can result in a charge of Boating Under the Influence. The law also states that operating a vessel gives consent to random tests for drugs and alcohol by law enforcement. Therefore, law enforcement does not need a reason to board a vessel.

According to data from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland has a whopping 169,902 registered vessels. Not including those operating unregistered vessels, that is a lot of traffic on our shorelines. In 2020, a year that had a lot of us spending all of our times indoors, there were 9% more reportable boating accidents than the year before. Although the number of overall accidents decreased in 2021 and 2022, the number of boating fatalities has increased. Unfortunately, Maryland saw fourteen fatal boating accidents in 2022. Alcohol was tied for the leading cause of boating fatalities and in the top five causes of overall reportable accidents.

The penalties for this crime are no joke – they are similar to those of a second DUI. While it does not affect your driver’s license the same way a DUI will, a first time BUI conviction can land you a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. These laws may seem a little harsh, but there are good reasons behind them. The US Coast Guard states that boaters are ten times more likely to be in a fatal boating accident with a BAC of .10. Before establishing the .08 BAC limit, Maryland saw some very tragic boating accidents in the 1980s – including a four-person fatality and the untimely death of filmmaker Francis Coppola’s son on our waterways.

A notable case of boating under the influence just went to court this June. In an Anne Arundel Circuit Court, 21-year-old Shayne Kenneth Smith stood before judge Stacy McCormick to face charges including boating under the influence and negligent manslaughter. Court records stated that on June 4, 2022, Smith was operating a boat under the influence on the West River near Parish Creek. After speeding and losing control, the boat crashed into a channel piling, ejecting all six people on board. Unfortunately, only five resurfaced and the body of 21-year-old Nick Barton was later discovered. Barton was a three-year veteran of the Anne Arundel Community College lacrosse team and had just played in twelve games for the 2022 season. Shayne Smith’s breathalyzer tests showed a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .10 at the time of the accident, according to his defense attorney Mandeep Chhabra. He entered a plea of guilty to negligent manslaughter by a boat and was sentenced to a term of ten years with all but eighteen months suspended.  

Unfortunately, this is the time of year when boating accidents are most prevalent. The majority of the boating accidents from 2022 took place from May to September, with July being the peak month. Hopefully more Marylanders will be responsible and allow a sober person to operate their boat. Stay safe out there!

Biography

Tom Maronick Jr. is a senior partner at Maronick Law LLC, a firm he started in 2008 with offices across the state of Maryland. Tom works primarily out of Anne Arundel County and the Eastern Shore with a focus on criminal defense and personal injury.

He was named the Daily Record Criminal Law Power List 2022, one of only 25 lawyers in the state, and Tom is a six-time Super Lawyers honoree for criminal defense. He is the co-chair of the Criminal Law Committee for the MAJ as well as an executive board member for the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association. He is an active member of many Maryland Bar associations including Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Harford County. Tom is very involved in organizations & charities across Maryland, including working with the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, Annapolis Film Festival, several Irish charities, Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin MD, and the Ocean City Paramedics Foundation. He is also the attorney mentor for the Mock Trial team at Stephen Decatur High School. Tom splits his time between Anne Arundel County and Worcester County with his wife.