Boating under the influence is a separate Florida charge from DUI, brought under F.S. 327.35. It uses the same standard, impairment of normal faculties or an alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, applied to the person operating the vessel.
The standard for vessel operators
BUI is aimed at the person operating a boat, not everyone aboard. The test is the familiar one from the road: whether the operator's normal faculties were impaired, or whether the operator had a breath or blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher.
Because it comes from a different statute than the DUI law, BUI is its own charge, even though the evidence in a BUI case often looks familiar to anyone who has seen a DUI case.
How a stop on the water usually starts
On the road, a DUI investigation usually begins with a traffic violation or a checkpoint. The water has no lanes or traffic signals, so the reason an officer approached a particular vessel is one of the first things a defense review examines. As with any stop, the basis for it matters.
Officers typically note how the boat was being operated, the smell of alcohol, containers aboard, speech and balance. Many of those observations are complicated by the setting itself.
Why the marine setting changes the evidence
A day on a boat can produce signs that look like impairment even without alcohol. Sun, wind, heat, dehydration and the motion of the water can affect balance, speech and the appearance of the eyes. Someone who has been on a moving deck for hours may be unsteady for reasons unrelated to drinking.
Field sobriety exercises are meant to be given and scored under national NHTSA standards. Whether a floating dock, a rocking deck or a sloped boat ramp is a fair place to give them is a reasonable question to ask.
Testing and the rest of the BUI review
Breath or blood testing may follow a BUI arrest, and the questions resemble those in a road case: how and when samples were collected, how they were handled, and whether testing procedures were followed. Video from body cameras or other sources, if it exists, can show conditions the written report leaves out.
BUI cases use the same tools of the criminal process as other charges, such as discovery of the state's evidence, depositions of witnesses and motions to suppress evidence obtained unlawfully. In misdemeanor cases, which include most BUI charges, depositions are more limited and generally need a showing of good cause. DUI Lawyers Shield Firm can review a BUI arrest in a free case review.
Keep reading
- CDL DUI in Florida: The .04 Rule and Your Career
- Florida Field Sobriety Tests: What They Are and How They Fail
- Challenging the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) Test in Florida DUI Cases
General information only, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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