Boating While Intoxicated (BWI) in Texas
Per Texas Penal Code Section 49.06, a person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a watercraft. Per Texas Penal Code Section 49.01, watercraft means a vessel, one or more water skis, an aquaplane, or another device used for transporting or carrying a person on water, other than a device propelled only by the current of water.
This statute operates much like the DWI statute and has similar sentencing enhancements.
Using the Travis County, Texas, court system as a guide, one can notice how few of these cases are charged. There are over 1,300 pages of the Court’s docket, each containing at least 20 cases. So out of the over 20,000 pending cases, only about 25 of these are for BWI.
Two things should be noted:
- Generally speaking, the reason for the stop is going to differ significantly from the reason for stopping a vehicle on the highway and
- It should be noted there does not appear to be a Boating While Intoxicated With Child Passenger State Jail Felony equivalent to the Driving While Intoxicated With Child Passenger State Jail Felony.
As intoxication will be an issue, similar to DWI cases, this is an area ripe for challenging breath or blood results through the hiring of expert witnesses.
While this is a rarely charged crime in Travis County, it is still important to have solid representation in your cornet to defend against this when it is charged. We are here to fight for you.
Call us at (512) 494-4070 or request a free consultation online now.
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