Officers Watching For Drunk Boaters Over Memorial Day Weekend

CORNELIUS, NC –  Wildlife Officers are working to keep safety top of mind, looking to prevent drownings and drunk driving on the water, as hundreds of people are expected to spend part of their Memorial Day weekend on area lakes.

“It’s been really fun. It’s raining off and on. It’s pretty crowded, even though the race is going on,” says boater Morgan Lofty, from Concord, NC.

At Blythe Landing on Lake Norman, Lofty says she and her friends always want to have a good time, while staying safe too.

“We just look out for people, make sure no one’s swimming in the middle of the water. We stay close to the edge and then we always have our life jackets on,” Lofty says.

Wildlife Officers will be stopping boaters to check for safety equipment.

“Sometimes we get in a recreation mode, it’s easy to let our guard down. And that’s generally when an incident occurs is, you know, when we begin to think we’re just here to have fun, we don’t have to really pay attention,” says Sgt. William Laton, with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

Laton says their focus will be drunk boating.

 “Ensure the people are operating in a safe manner. We will address violations as we see them and obviously we’re going to target those that are potentially impaired,” he says.

The Booze It and Loose It “BAT Mobile” mobile breathalyzer vehicle will be out at area lakes.

 “When they’re launching, they see the BAT Mobile, I think it does give them the presence of mind, hey, maybe we don’t.. make sure we have a designated boater,” explains operator Chad Towery.