Boating Accidents Trend Down, Arrests Up During Operation Dry Water 2024

Newly enacted ‘Nick’s Law’ increases penalties for boating while impaired

Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo

The Maryland Natural Resources Police reported a statistically safer weekend than years past during the July 4 weekend this year.

Despite being the busiest boating holiday, no boating fatalities were recorded on Independence Day weekend. Nine boating accidents occurred on Maryland’s waterways, down from 12 in each of the previous two years. 

NRP officers made nine Operating While Under the Influence of Alcohol (OUI) arrests during the agency’s “Operation Dry Water” heightened enforcement period from July 4-6. This was the highest number of arrests NRP recorded since making 12 arrests during Operation Dry Water in 2018.

Operation Dry Water was launched in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. NRP officers have participated in the joint effort since its inception, conducting “saturation patrols” in which increased numbers of officers concentrate in areas where drinking and boating are known to occur in Maryland.

Newly introduced into Maryland law as of July 1, 2024, “Nick’s Law” allows the court system to prohibit OUI offenders from operating a vessel in state waters for up to two years, or if the violation results in a fatality, up to five years. Previously, offenders could only be prohibited from operating for just one year, and two years in fatal incidents.

Below are the charges filed during Operation Dry Water 2024. Each was charged with Operating While Under the Influence of Alcohol and other offenses

A 24-year-old Camp Springs man was charged after a personal watercraft collision that occurred in Rock Creek near Fort Smallwood State Park on July 4.

A 30-year-old Denton man was charged after being stopped for improper navigation lighting on the Choptank River in Cambridge on July 4.

A 23-year-old Eden man was charged after he was spotted operating a personal watercraft negligently in the Sinepuxent Bay in Ocean City on July 4.

A 44-year-old Sparrows Point man was charged after being stopped for operating without navigation lights in Bear Creek on July 5.

A 55-year-old Rockville man was charged after two vessels collided in Deep Creek Lake on July 5, causing injuries to several occupants and heavy damage to both boats.

A 24-year-old Chester man was charged after a U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection in Kent Narrows on July 6.

A 59-year-old Cambridge man was charged after a U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection on the Choptank River in Cambridge on July 6.

A 50-year-old Jefferson Hills, Pa. man was charged after being stopped for improper navigation lighting on Deep Creek Lake on July 6.

A 22-year-old Middle River man was charged after officers located him on a fishing boat after a reported physical altercation at Wilson Point Park Boat Ramp on Dark Head Creek on July 6.