Maryland has hundreds of miles of shorelines on our ocean seafront and on our lakes and rivers. We’re proud of the Annapolis boat show which is a world renown event. With all of that water, and all of those boats, it may come as no surprise that there could be an increased incidence of boating and drinking.
Recently it was reported that a 21-year-old driver towing a boat with his pickup truck ran into a boat being towed by an SUV. The collision led to a drunk driving charge for the driver of the pickup truck.
The accident took place on North Sandgates Road. The road runs between Pawtuxet River and Highway 235. The 21-year-old was pulling a 15-foot Bass Tracker boat when he allegedly struck the side of a 20-foot Key West cabin boat being pulled by an SUV. The cabin boat was thrown off its trailer and into a utility pole. The trailer with the bass boat swung around and tipped over.
The 21-year-old stayed at the scene of the crash and cooperated fully with the police who arrived at the scene. That may be one of the reasons why he was sentenced to just two days in jail.
In addition to being charged with drunk driving, the 21-year-old was also charged with failure to stop at a stop sign. The 21-year-old will serve his two days in jail. He also received probation before judgment which means that he will have no criminal record for the offense as long as he maintains a clean record for the duration of his three-year probation. The remainder of his 180 day sentence was suspended.
If there is a lesson in this, it may be that cooperation can sometimes work to one’s benefit. The other lesson may be that a skilled and experienced criminal defense attorney is necessary when charged with a serious crime.
Source: SoMdNews, “Drunk driver in boat trailers’ crash sentenced to jail,” John Wharton, Oct. 19, 2012
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