San Antonio – Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer for many people, and will likely mean tens of thousands of Texans’ boats on the state’s rivers, lakes and coast.
But the weekend can be memorable for the wrong reasons. Texas Game Wardens racked up the following statistics during the 2024 Memorial Day weekend:
11,609 vessel checks
1,528 citations and 2,301 warnings issued
37 boating while intoxicated (BWI) and four driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrests
55 arrests for other crimes
Seven boating accident responses
One boating fatality response (Taylor Bayou)
Seven drowning responses (Benbrook Lake, Lake Bridgeport, Canyon Lake, Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Lewisville, Sabine Lake and Lake Texoma)
Longtime boaters know the risks that fun on the water can carry.
Finishing up a morning of fishing on Calaveras Lake on Friday, Greg Bean told KSAT that he had a friend from Florida who had disappeared while boating solo in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bean said his friend was believed to have fallen overboard while not connected to his boat’s kill switch.
“The boat was beached, full throttle. Never found him – any sign of him,” Bean recounted.
Though that happened in the ocean, Bean says that it could happen in freshwater, too.
“I’m a good swimmer, but I can’t make that dam,” he said, gesturing to the shore.
An 80-year-old man drowned in Calaveras Lake in March 2024 after he fell off a boat while fishing.
With the rush of boaters expected to take to the waterways this weekend, Texas Game Warden Roland Fuentes said, “We’ll be out here on the lakes and rivers, making sure that people are having a good time, but we wanna make sure that they’re having it in a safe manner.”
Texas Game Wardens have the power to inspect boaters for required water safety equipment, including:
Life jackets for everyone on board (accessible for adults and worn by children under 13)
Fire extinguishers
Sound-producing devices like whistles or air horns
Kill switch safety lanyards
Throw cushions
Proof of boater safety course completion for operators born after Sept. 1, 1993
While you can drink and have an open container while operating a boat, you can’t be drunk.
A BWI is treated the same as a DWI with the same limit of 0.08 blood alcohol concentration.
“It’s important for folks to watch their alcohol intake if they’re out here, because you can very quickly…become intoxicated by just not really paying attention,” Fuentes said.
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