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State Law Ups Penalties For Impaired Boaters, Links Sentences To Prior DWIs

Drunk drivers are “a danger to themselves and a menace to others,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday as he signed into law a measure that links such offenses no matter what kind of vehicle was involved -- whether it be a car, boat or snowmobile.

Tiffany Heitkamp a 20-year-old Syracuse woman was killed in 2006 on an Adirondack lake while a passenger in a boat.

Tiffany Heitkamp a 20-year-old Syracuse woman was killed in 2006 on an Adirondack lake while a passenger in a boat.

Photo Credit: MySpace

"Tiffany Heitkamp’s Law" was named for a 20-year-old Syracuse woman killed in 2006 on an Adirondack lake while riding in a boat piloted by Keir Weimer of Manlius.

The new law allows judges to consider prior driving while intoxicated, or ability impaired by drugs, convictions during sentencing in drunken boating cases, and vice-versa.

They can now impose stiffer sentences, larger fines and, possibly, jail time.

“This new law closes this loophole and will help keep these dangerous individuals off our roads and waterways, avoiding more senseless tragedies,” the governor said.

Specifically, the measure requires judges overseeing boating cases that carry 30-day sentences must consider any prior DWIs or DWAIs by the same person within a five-year period.

And when sentencing for a BWAI carrying a 180-day sentence, the court must consider prior DWIs or DWAIs within a 10-year period.

This change would require judges to impose higher sentences on repeat offenders, regardless of whether that offense was committed in a car or a boat.

According to media reports, in the accident that killed Heitkamp, Weimer was intoxicated and had a record of alcohol-related car crashes.

He rammed his 19-foot ski boat into an island on Fourth Lake in Herkimer County, killing Heitkamp and injuring himself, syracuse.com reported.

Under the laws of that time, penalties for driving a car while drunk and piloting a boat were different.

Because Weimer’s past two DWI arrests couldn’t be factored in, he was not charged as a repeat offender.

The victim's mother, MaryJo Heitkamp-France, was thanked by the bill's sponsors, Assemblyman William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, and State Senator John A. DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, for her "tireless advocacy on behalf this legislation in memory of her daughter."

She and Weimer, who spent several years in prison and who is now sober, have teamed up to educate the public on the dangers of alcohol, the syracuse.com article said.

To read the syracuse.com article, click here.

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