Minnesota to crack down on drunken boating

Minnesota is cracking down on drunken boating.

Conservation officers from the state Department of Natural Resources and county sheriff's deputies are taking part in Operation Dry Water this Friday through Sunday.

The crackdown is part of a national effort to reduce the number of alcohol- and drug-related accidents and fatalities on the water.

Boater education is part of the enforcement push as well as increased patrols looking for boat operators with blood-alcohol concentrations exceeding the 0.08 percent limit.

Besides impairing a boater's judgment, vision and reaction time, alcohol also can increase fatigue and susceptibility to the effects of being immersed in cold water.

The DNR says 30 percent of Minnesota boating fatalities in 2010 involved alcohol.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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