As summer arrives, Illinois police patrol waters for boating under the influence
SPRING GROVE, Ill. (CBS) – Sunny days and warm weather can mean a boatload of fun.
This time of year is known as something darker too: the 100 deadliest days of summer. That catchphrase refers to fatal drunk driving crashes between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but we're not just talking about cars.
CBS 2's Lauren Victory reminded us about the dangers of boating under the influence.
Robin Swaziek will tell you the waves of pain never end.
"She should be here," Swaziek said reading from her book. "It's not natural for parents to bury their children.
"There's days you don't want to shower, get dressed or even eat."
Writing about what happened to her family helped the Illinois mom grieve.
Dad was focused on how it happened, how their daughter Megan Swaziek Wells was killed while puttering down the Rock River in a pontoon boat.
"So here's the pontoon. Here comes the fishing boat and the fishing boat went over the back of the pontoon boat and the front of that operator's fishing boat hit her directly," David said.
The 32-year-old mom of three was gone in an instant. Investigators took pictures of beer cans on the other boat and noted alcohol impairment as a contributing factor to why that driver hit Megan.
"A lot of people want to call it an accident," David said. "Well, it's not an accident. It's a crash. Someone made a conscious decision to drive a vehicle and I'm calling a boat a vehicle, to drive a vehicle under the influence."
Keeping boaters sober is the number one goal of the Illinois Conservation Police.
"We're out here," said Nick Reid, an Illinois Conservation Police officer. "We're looking for …"
Reid was on high alert when he spoke to CBS 2, hence the interruption.
CBS 2 tagged along for a patrol on the Chain O'Lakes.
Victory: "How often on a given day do you pull somebody over and you smell alcohol?"
Reid: "All the time. So the different between being on a boat and being in a car is you actually, you can legally drink on the water."
It's certainly not a secret. There's even a giant beer advertisement along the water.
"I think there's 20 bars on the Chain O'Lakes here," Reid said.
Reid said on a nice night, there could be a couple hundred boats on the water there.
Traffic was slow the Thursday afternoon CBS 2 hit the lake, but state data show more than 2,700 arrests by Conservation Police for boaters operating under the influence since 2004.
In 2022 alone, more than 50 people behind a boat wheel had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. Every summer, alcohol plays a role in at least one boating death or injury in Illinois.
Victory: "Why do you think boating under the influence still happens?"
Reid: "So boating, for most people, it's for recreation."
Fun in the sun, but Reid said the sun can dehydrate you, accelerating how drunk you feel.
"Between the wind, waves, a ton of boat traffic going every which direction, there's a lot of things you need to stay mentally focused on, which makes impairment on the water so dangerous," Reid said.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, launched its first campaign against BUI, or boating under the influence, last summer.
You might also spot some flyers on the subject.
"In some states, they're going to be mailed to all people with boating registrations," said Erin Payton, MADD's regional executive director. "And in other states, they're going to be at marinas."
The organization will be blitzing the boating world with information about the penalties and risks of being drunk behind the wheel.
"It's not talked about as much as driving on the road and it's just as dangerous," Payton added.
The Swazieks want to keep the conversation about the drunk boating dangers on top of mind.
"It did not have to happen if somebody made the right decision," David said.
A wrong decision took Megan seven years ago this week.
The anniversary of Megan's death is Saturday. Next weekend, a national campaign called "Operation Dry Water" will be in effect.
A larger-than-normal amount of law enforcement agencies will hit the lakes and rivers to target impaired boat drivers. Of course, the goal is deterrence.
