Coast Guard Cracking Down On Drunk Boating This Weekend
(CBS) -- Boaters are going to see more police and Coast Guard patrols on the lake this weekend, during a crackdown on drunk boating, reports WBBM's Mike Krauser.
At the Coast Guard Station at Calumet Harbor, crews were preparing for stepped up patrols. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Phil Robinson says an alarming number of boaters are drinking and they'll be making stops on the lake.
"There's an idea that you can't have fun on the water without partaking in alcohol, but that's not true because you can have fun on the water," said Robinson. "Just on the Great Lakes alone, we had eight deaths just in this region and then there was 18 total on the Great Lakes. There were all due to alcohol."
He says alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in boating accident deaths.