Do you think drugs and piloting a boat are a good idea? The same principle could be used for pilots of airplanes too. There is not enough publicity about the dangers of drugs and boating. There are hundreds of tragedies each year that could have been avoided with a Illinois drug class: http://www.onlinedrugclass.com/Online-Drug-Education-Classes/Illinois
Fifty-one-year-old David Hatyina with the grieving mother crying in the courtroom, pled guilty to aggravated DUI . He had cocaine in his system and was over the legal alcohol limit when his speedboat struck and killed 11-year-old Tony Borcia. As reported in www.chicagotribune.com.
Hatyina faces three to 14 years in prison. He has ruined the lives of many people, including his own.
The day of the crash, Tony and three siblings were getting inner tube rides from behind a pontoon boat driven by their father. Tony had fallen off the tube, as he bobbed in the water waiting to be picked up, the speedboat struck him, despite his family's frantic efforts to get its drivers to stop. Tony died instantly.
Hatyina's blood alcohol level hours after the crash were measured at 0.052 but that a toxicologist estimated it to be 0.09 to 0.128, over the legal limit, at the time of the accident. The toxicology report also showed cocaine in his blood.
Could an online drug class mandated by the state before granting a person a boating license have prevented this tragedy? Maybe yes, maybe no. The truth is, it certainly could not have hurt.