NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) -- In Tennessee, alcohol is not only causing issues on the roads, but also on the waterways.
Between 2019 and 2023, the state saw a 237% increase in alcohol-related fatal boating crashes, according to a new report from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). Boating under the influence arrests also rose 95% from 2020 to 2023.
Back in 2010, Alex Otte survived a boating crash involving an impaired driver. She was just 13 years old at the time.
"The boat hit me from the side, going over 60 miles an hour, threw me off the jet ski. I landed face down in the water and the boat landed on top of my body. I sustained severe, life-threatening, and life-long injuries from head to toe, including a traumatic brain injury, a broken neck, and the loss of my right leg, among many other things,” said Otte, who serves as a regional executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). "What I want people to understand, most importantly, is that boating under the influence is driving under the influence. When you make a decision to consume alcohol or other drugs and get behind the wheel, you are a drunk driver."
Lt. Col. Matt Majors with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) Boating and Law Enforcement Division said these numbers started increasing as more people started boating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The truth is, I can tell you so many times I've sat on the lake bank with these victims' families," Majors said. "And about 20 to 40% of our incidents, it fluctuates, but we can track that back to alcohol or drug use by that operator."
According to Majors, the TWRA conducts targeted patrols, as well as checkpoints, and tries to remain especially visible in party coves. However, he said they catch the most impaired people during stops for more minor infractions.
"Oftentimes if we don't catch them on the water, they make it back to the marinas and the boat docks and then they drive home, so it's imperative for us to catch them on the waterway before they hurt somebody," Majors explained.
MADD wants people to know that alcohol hits differently on a boat, saying a 0.03% blood alcohol content (BAC) on the water is equivalent to a 0.08% BAC on the roads.
"Because of the environmental factors -- people are outside in the sun, the bouncing on the water kind of affects the inner ear -- that even a 0.08 BAC driver, while being incredibly dangerous and should never be on the road, is actually a less impaired driver than a 0.08 BAC boater," said Steven Burritt with MADD.
In Tennessee, boating under the influence now carries the same penalties as driving under the influence.