Watercraft operators could be next in line for enhanced DUI laws.
An effort is underway to extend the recently enacted drunk-driving laws to Arizona’s lakes and rivers.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department will push for legislation this session that aims to mirror the driving-under-the-influence (DUI) provisions in the state’s operating-under-the-influence (OUI) laws, when applicable, a department officer said.
“We want to bring parity to the OUI laws the same as they are for the DUI laws,” said Tony Guiles, the department’s legislative liaison.
There were about 148,000 registered watercrafts in Arizona in 2005. The Department is responsible for providing a safe watercraft recreation environment.
The driving laws that the department wants extended focus on increased jail terms and fines for violators, Guiles said.
They will not include the provisions on driver’s license suspensions, since no license is required to operate a watercraft. They will also not include the DUI’s ignition-interlock provision, which, in conjunction with other measures, is touted to have made Arizona’s drinking-and-driving laws among the toughest in the nation. 
Guiles said applying a requirement to install an ignition-interlock device on watercrafts is not mechanically feasible, a view echoed by a lobbyist for the interlock-ignition industry.
An ignition interlock is an electronic device slightly larger than an older version of a mobile phone. The interlock has been touted as a practical solution to keep drunk drivers off the road. It is wired to the car’s ignition system. A driver takes a breath test to measure the alcohol level in his or her blood before the engine will start. On the road, the driver is periodically required to blow into the interlock.
Alberto Gutier, a lobbyist for the interlock industry, agreed that boats are complicated as some use a “pull rope” to start an engine — not necessarily an engine key. Even now, the interlock industry is testing instruments that could be applied to motorcycles, he said.
Sen. Linda Gray, R-10, said she would be introducing the OUI legislation this session. Gray said a boat with an impaired operator can inflict just as much damage as a car with an intoxicated person behind the wheels.
In 2006, there was a significant increase in OUI arrests in the state — 535 arrests, compared to 375 the year before, according to a state report. In 2005, two of five fatalities were alcohol related, the report stated.
According to a matrix provided by Guiles, his department seeks, on top of existing fines, a $500 fine and a one-day in jail for first time OUI offenders; a $1,250 fine and 30 hours of community service, in addition to the current 30-day jail time for a subsequent offense; and a host of other fines, community service, and jail sentence for a new class of DUI offenders — those with a blood alcohol level of 0.20 or higher.
“This is a follow up,” Gray said of the legislation. Part of the reason why the OUI legislation was not introduced at the same time the DUI bills were last session was because it was unclear which drunk-driving provisions would eventually end up in statute, she said.
“I think the (OUI) bill will be able to get through because we already have the same penalties for those who are driving a vehicle,” she said.