" Question, is it legal to have any serum blood alcohol levels while driving on water? This bill sounds like it is an attempt to address “ONLY” seriousness of BUI offenses if you read the story. Why is this bad? It targets people with a prior DUI or BUI convictions. The difficult balance is Tourism vs. Public Safety. Do we sacrifice one for the other? We NEED tourism no question but at the risk of you daughter or son, brother, sister, mom or dad, close friend or fiancée… This is the difficult task of law enforcement has to make with the few people they actually catch. Even off duty law enforcement are guilty of BUI but they feel the can do it because they flash a badge in hopes of getting “LOVE” from other agencies. If you do drink, just use your head and let someone else drive. Please come enjoy the lake but don’t hurt yourself or someone else because you feel you “CAN” drive with serum blood alcohol levels. It is illegal so don’t get mad if you make that choice to drive. If you get caught or hurt someone, it’s all on you, not the law. "

" Desertrat - You are so right on! I've heard that it was a record year for a lot of businesses. Those that complain are only trying to buffalo, bully and scare people into their way of thinking. The ONLY trouble I had or saw was from people with CA license plates. One convenience store that I stopped at yesterday, was in the process of throwing out some belligerent, spoiled and probably under the influence little boys (around the age of twenty to about twenty five) I would say. Then, after they were told in no uncertain terms to leave, had the nerve to try and come back in a few minutes later. With CA plates and pulling what was probably their daddy’s big boat. Trying to get through a light before it turned red, blocking intersections in a hurry to get to the lake, cutting wide corners while turning left and making people who were sitting in the opposing turning lane - to backup in order to avoid the front end of their vehicle being taken off or run over, were all just a few of things I saw and experienced the last couple of days. These drivers totally ignore you and look away in a different direction, when being this careless and inconsiderate. And EVERY SINGLE ONE had a CA license plate. I went out to two of the local fishing accesses yesterday and could not believe the amount of trash. Everything from men's boxer shorts to used toilet paper littered the shores. It's hard to believe that there are so many people this ignorant who choose to come and abuse someone's else's home so badly. I'm not saying that there aren't good tourists from CA, as there are many. And I'm not saying that people who live here in Havasu aren't guilty also. These are the people though, that drive away the business of decent, law abiding citizens. There are so many who won't come here because of people like this. And you have countless others who reside here year around, that either go somewhere else for the holiday or stay home and are recluses for several days during the temporary take over. Then for weeks, the humble here deal with the aftermath.
Then you have people on here saying such ill informed, biased statements like "How much is the city making off this?" !!!
And to poorly informed cal/hav – it IS our lake. Especially when it comes to the clean up. I don’t see the likes of you out volunteering your time to beautify the shores once again. No, instead you sit at your computer all day and whine and cut down the humble and decent residents here because you supposedly lost a couple of hundred dollars due to the crackdowns and checkpoints.
ABSOLUTELY UNREAL!! "

" Nice to see some outspoken people supporting our community and the lake. Those who are unhappy with the safety measures, Las Vegas is right up the road, and they encourage lawlessness. Guess the anti-LHC bashers are outnumbered under this article and by the looks of the lake this weekend, not many people stayed away!! "

" commonsense

did you happen to read what I was replying to. You could not have and replied as you did , you need to keep things in the context of what the are designed for . Oh you forgot to mention the #1 jurisdiction out the the USCG. "

" UgottaBkiddingme: Corrections for you:

1. BLM: is in charge of the land under the water..thus they have water as if there is anything anchored in the water they have jurisdiction to the item via the anchor. Oh and have a law enforcement BLM ranger stop you on the lake, yes they have full fledged officers out there on boats.
2. Due to agreements, both Arizona and California have concurrent jurisdiction on the water from high water mark to high watermark and 25 miles inland.
3. See 2
4. hey you got one right.
5. Yes wildlife refuge, but still any collisions will be handled by SBSO or MCSO..See #1.

This lake and river have in the neighborhood of 10 different agencies that have jurisdiction on it. But ultimately per state law, the MCSO is charged with patrolling the waterways of the county.
THE MORE YOU KNOW..NOW!!!

As to people staying home and not coming here because of Law Enforcement and BUI laws....thank God they are gone. If it took these laws and checkpoints to get you gone then good. Those staying home or going elsewhere are the ones who were drinking and boating....we don't need your money, nor your presence on this lake. As for Safety checks, the law allows for them, if you don't like it don't boat or start a campaign to repeal that law as unconstitutional. Until then, you know it is law and if you choose to boat, then expect to have it happen and have your boat in proper working order with all of the proper equipment, your stop will be short and sweet with no citations issued. Once you have shown the officer you are in compliance (maybe 5 minutes), he can no longer hold you without reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed. If you are not drinking and operating (ie designate a driver) you are on your way to a safe time on the water. Why is this so hard to see and follow. If every one followed this there would be no blogs to complain about tickets and checkpoint and such. "

" If someone knows that their license is at stake, it will give them a little more incentive to stay sober behind the wheel of their boat. Fines and other penalties for crimes are steep, not to raise revenue, but to make people think twice about committing the crime in the first place.

A lot of people are saying they should just get a warning for no fire extinguisher or not enough life jackets. What good does that do? They'll probably just throw the warning cite away and forget about it. All the whiners say they are "experienced" boaters, but cry about the ticket they got because they didn't know enough to check their equipment before they went out. And then blame the "NASI" cops for their own incompetence.

Hit them where it hurts, and they'll be more likely to comply with the law in the first place and stay sober or have a designated driver. "

" Just as a point of clarification, since the Colorado is a Federal waterway there is a Federal law ruling law enforcement along the Colorado. The law says that law enforcement officers in states bordering the Colorado have police powers up to 50 miles inside the neighboring states borders. Arizona officers have police powers up to 50 miles inside California (not just the Channel) and vice versa. Therefore anyone on the lake is fair game for any federal, state, county or local law enforcement agency. "

" There are so many risks involved in boating. It’s an awesome activity so why ruin it with the effects of alcohol? Boating and drinking is no different from driving and drinking, they both impair your vision and judgment. This summer I encourage boaters to boat safe and boat sober. Check out BoatResponsibly.com for more boating safety tips. "

" cal/hav corrections for you

1. BLM = Bureau Of LAND MANAGEMENT, get it land, they don't do water
2 if you look on a map in the middle of the river their is a line that show cal to the west an AZ to the east, it is an equal split.
3 You forgot the MOHAVE county sheriff that is an equal partner with the SB boys.
4 the town on the cal side is called havasu lake, not lake havasu.
5 up river by the sand bar you are in the FEDERAL WILDLIFE REFUGEE, get it federal, not CA or AZ

*the more you know......... "

" So if I don't have a drivers license, I just pay a fine, and do jail time, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, BUT IF THEY HAVE A LICENSE THEY LOSE THEIRS. seems fair to me. Sure it is!

Seems like everybody will want their friend that lost his license to drive the boat cuz the penalties are less for him. TRULY UNJUST. a drivers license should not be affected by boat incidents UNLESS a driver license is REQUIRED to operate a boat. simple and fair. "

" Not sure this is the answer. Taking away a right to drive because of something you did on the water?? No. What we need is a license to drive a boat, and any other watercraft like personal watercraft. I've taken many tests in my life and have several types of licenses. It would be no big deal. Getting in a 3 ton boat with 1,500 horsepower or a personal watercraft, whatever, it doesn't matter, there all weapons. But boating and driving characteristics, laws, etc. are not the same, at all. They should be treated the same in respect of license, proof of insurance just like a car, but NOT classified under the same license. So, in taking away my drivers license I would still be able to use my boat and not be braking the law if I can find a ride to the lake? Genius. "

" paristodd..Its Not YOUR LAKE!!!!!!! The Lake Havasu City police department has jurisdiction over the Bridgewater Channel. Thats about all you own. The rest is California San Bernadino County and BLM Land. So get off your High Horse. It is called Lake Havasu as the Town on the California Side. Not Lake Havasu City Lake! "

" paristodd I would hope your not as stupid as your statement,I was on the lake last week and by the looks of things everybody is staying home,I think you should go to the courthouse and see how many cali people vs havasu tweekers see the judge.oh ya I wont be there this week so you can have my spot on the lake,be carefull what you wish for it might come true,and by the looks of things it has!I guess all us offensive ca boaters are listening!!! "

" After two years away, because of the unlawful partying and drunks on the lake, we are returning. Thanks to all for the crackdowns and bills such as this getting passed!

I like your humour JM. So true. "

" JM - you didn't lay it on nearly as thick as what a lot of tourists from CA have been criticizing Havasu about. I love your humor though. Cal/hav needs to observe these statistics and put his lies where the sun doesn't shine and the water isn't flowing. It cracks me up where some of these people get their info and what they preach. "

" Finally a fitting punishment for BUI. I hope the checkpoints and the possible passing of this bill will keep the drunk and offensive CA crowd off our lake. We don't need you or want you here anyway. Sure your money is nice but is the mess you create really worth all the volunteer hrs used to clean up after you. There are plenty of respectful boaters out there to compensate for you absense this holiday weekend. "

" JM, the only other thing you could have done to get your point across better was to type it all in caps. Well done!

Sun.luver, I believe you do need a license to operate a watercraft. "

" sun.luver ya i agree dont have a problem with the law i dont understand how they can take your license but cali holds your license for child support or back taxes,makes it tough to pay them money with no job "

" Well, that just sounds like a police state with corrupt cops who's only reason for this bill is for the purpose of revenue. There is absolutely no way this bill was introduced for safety reasons. It's all about the money.

What a way to scare tourists away.... One would think that in this economy you'd want the tourists to visit that fine state.

I better cancel all of my plans for travel and boating in California since i can't have a good time without drinking and driving on the water.

I'm spreading the word all over the internet, every blog/forum, everywhere. Tell everyone not to go to California, it's a police state, or a ""nasi"" state as some smart guy put it in the other article.

(did i lay the sarcasm on thick enough) For some reason all of that sounded very familiar...... "

" This is kind of confusing to me, you dont need a drivers license to operate a watercraft. "

" Applause for this bill! "