RECENT DWI CONVICTION? NO MOTOR BOATING FOR YOU THIS SUMMER, YOU OL’ SAILOR YOU! ☹ NO ATVS OR SNOWMOBILES THIS YEAR, EITHER. ☹ FIND OUT WHY!

Posted April 23, 2019

by Ted

RECENT DWI CONVICTION? NO MOTOR BOATING FOR YOU THIS SUMMER, YOU OL’ SAILOR YOU! ☹ NO ATVS OR SNOWMOBILES THIS YEAR, EITHER. ☹ FIND OUT WHY!

Get out the sailboat and raise those sails! Yes, you are prohibited from operating a motorboat this summer for 90 days, beginning May 1st; and you are prohibited from operating snowmobiles or ATVs for one year from your sentencing date. Yes! Jet skis and personal watercrafts (PWC) fit the definition of motorboats, nice try though. Electric trolling motor? Sorry, still a motorboat. Canoe? Go for it!

Let’s get this straight, the best way to avoid any of this is, of course, to avoid drinking and other substances completely when operating any type of motorized vehicle or watercraft. Stay sober and stay alive! The details…

The new “Little Alan’s Law” became effective August 1, 2018 and means that upon criminal CONVICTION of any DWI (whether an impaired driver of any motor vehicle, including snowmobiles, ATVs, boats, etc.) will result in prohibition of snowmobile and ATVs for one year and, for boating, for 90 days between May 1 and October 1. It starts on the sentencing date for the conviction and if that date falls in the middle of the May 1 to Oct 1 period, the driver needs to finish the remainder of the 90-day boating prohibition the next year, starting May 1st. To trigger the prohibition, a criminal DWI conviction is required. Your driver’s license status (i.e. Class D is revoked or valid) is irrelevant to this equation.

Driving snowmobile, ATVs, and boats while impaired face the exact same penalties as automobile DWIs as it relates to implied consent law (driver’s license revocation) and criminal penalties, just as if driver was driving a car. That’s nothing new.

It doesn’t matter what degree the conviction or how long your driver’s license is revoked, the 1 year/90-day prohibition is the new consequence for all DWI convictions. The only way to avoid it is to avoid a DWI criminal conviction. How to avoid it? Get a dismissal or acquittal or plead to careless driving. I don’t usually over sell an offer to a careless, because it usually means your driver’s license is still revoked the same, a misdemeanor conviction, and DWI probation. However, this new law adds value to a careless plea for those who like to drive snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats. Call us today at 763-682-1324.

This new law also creates a new motive to litigate DWI criminal charges, for the simple fact that the snowmobile, ATV, and motorboat prohibition is only upon conviction. Even if your drivers license is revoked and we can’t beat that, depending on your passion for snowmobiling, ATVs, and boating, you may still want to take your DWI to trial, so you can avoid the conviction and therefore avoid the prohibitions.

If you get caught operating a snowmobile, ATV, or motorboat during the prohibited time period, you are guilty of a misdemeanor.

Common FAQs:

These are some important distinctions you must understand when reading the FAQs below: The term “driver’s license” is only referring to a class A, B, C, or D driver’s license and the term “revocation” refers to revocation of that driver’s license. A driver’s license is not required to operate snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats. Alan’s law uses the word “prohibition” in the new law that bans operating snowmobile, ATV, vehicles and motor boats for those convicted of DWI because there’s nothing to revoke (because you don’t need a DL to operate them in the first place). The term “conviction” means a guilty plea or finding of guilt by jury in a criminal case. Keep reading, it all will make sense.

What’s the penalty if I get caught driving snowmobiles, ATVs, or motorboats while prohibited? If you get caught operating a snowmobile, ATV, or motorboat during the prohibited time period, you are guilty of a misdemeanor.

What if I pled guilty or was found guilty of careless driving and not driving while impaired? If you pled guilty or were found guilty of careless driving under Minn. Stat. 169.13 and NOT a DWI under Minn. Stat. §169A.20, then you are not subject to the snowmobiles, ATVs, or motorboats prohibition

Why is the Implied Consent /driver’s license revocation period irrelevant? A driver’s license revocation penalty for DWI is covered by Implied Consent law and is a completely separate issue from the this “prohibition” of operating snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats upon criminal DWI conviction. A conviction is not necessary for driver’s license revocation (‘member when they revoked your driver’s license with a guilty plea, without a trial?) However, a conviction is necessary to trigger the snowmobile, ATV, and motorboat prohibitions. The only way you are not subject to the prohibition is if you beat the criminal DWI case and therefore avoided a “conviction” or if your criminal case is still pending and therefore there has not yet been a criminal DWI “conviction” and therefore you have not yet triggered the prohibition.

After October 1st, I was arrested for DWI and my driver’s license was revoked for 90 days and my new driver’s license has been reinstated, so no prohibition of snowmobile, ATVs, and motorboats for me, right? This would only be true if you were never convicted of criminal DWI (i.e. found not guilty, case dismissed, pled to careless driving) or your criminal DWI case is still pending. Otherwise, look at the date you were sentenced for your criminal DWI conviction. From that sentencing date, you are prohibited from the use of snowmobiles and ATVs for one year and, for boating, for 90 days between May 1 and October 1. If the conviction is sentenced in the middle of the May 1 to Oct 1 period, the driver needs to finish the remainder of the 90-day boating prohibition the next year, starting in May.

But my driver’s license is revoked for more than one year, I must be prohibited from snowmobile, ATVs, and motorboats for a period longer than for DWI folks with only a year revocation or less? Again, the driver’s license revocation is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how long your driver’s license is revoked for, your snowmobile, ATV, and motorboating prohibition is only the 1 year/90 days explained above and only upon conviction.

My driver’s license has been cancelled/ inimical to public safety, doesn’t my snowmobile, ATV, and motorboat prohibition extend so long as I’m cancelled? No, remember your Class D driver’s license revocation is irrelevant. You will have the same 1 year/90-day prohibition for snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats as anyone, assuming you were also convicted for any DWI in the criminal case.

But I didn’t get a DWI on a boat, snowmobile, or ATV, do I still have these prohibitions? Doesn’t matter what type of motorized vehicle you drove impaired, it only matters whether you were convicted of the crime of DWI and yes, you can end up with a DWI conviction on a motorboat, snowmobile, or ATV (any motor vehicle) its’ the same thing as a regular old auto DWI.

I haven’t been convicted of a DWI crime yet, am I prohibited from snowmobile, ATVs, and motorboats? No, you are not prohibited until and unless you are convicted of the crime of DWI. A conviction means you either pled guilty to the crime or were found guilty of the crime after trial and you were sentenced for the crime of DWI.

My DWI criminal charges were dismissed, am I prohibited from snowmobile, ATVs, and motorboats? Congrats! You’re good to go. Be safe and don’t drink and drive!

I beat my DWI at trial, am I prohibited from snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats? Congrats! You’re good to go. Be safe and don’t drink and drive!

I lost my Implied Consent hearing, but my DWI was dismissed/acquitted, am I still prohibited from snowmobiles, ATVs, and motorboats? No, a loss at an Implied Consent hearing results in sustaining your driver’s license revocation. You are not prohibited until and unless you are convicted of the crime of DWI. A conviction means you either pled guilty to the crime or were found guilty of the crime after trial and you were sentenced for the crime of DWI.

Can I still drive my canoe while prohibited from motorboats? Yes, because it’s not a “motor” boat, which is: a watercraft propelled in any manner by machinery, including watercraft temporarily equipped with detachable motors. Minn. Stat. §86B.005, Subd.9.

Can I still drive a boat using my electric trolling motor? No, because it still meets the definition of “motorboat”, which is: a watercraft propelled in any manner by machinery, including watercraft temporarily equipped with detachable motors. Minn. Stat. §86B.005, Subd.9.

I’m a fisherman, when and how should I time my sentencing date? What’s your favorite months of fishing from May 1 to October 1? After all, it’s a five-month period that you only need to serve the 90 days prohibition. What species are you targeting? For pike and musky, it’s a no-brainer, try to time your sentencing so you are sentenced by May 1 and miss out on roughly May 1 to August 1 and hit the peak season late summer and fall. For walleye, you have a tough choice! Give up that sweet June bite or give up the entire late season and fall bite! Tough decision. For someone who doesn’t fish the fall season, your best bet is probably to time it so you lose out on August, September and May, and spare June and July. As you can see, you don’t need to suffer the entire season, just 90 days. There’s only so much control you can have over the date you are sentenced because the court is largely in control of sentencing. However, we can dial it in pretty close sometimes and that might matter to you. Remember fishermen and fisherwomen, you can still fish, you just need a canoe or a friend for that 90-day period!

I’m a water sports enthusiast, I don’t fish, so how can I time this? That’s a no-brainer. For me, the ideal sentencing date would be August 15. Then, you would only miss out from August 15 to October 1^st, and then from about May 1 to June 15, the cold-water months of the season. Look, you just saved your summer by knowing this! Make your friends pull you in their boat if you need more than that!

I’m a recreational boater, I don’t fish, I don’t do water sports, how can I time this? That’s a no-brainer. For me, the ideal sentencing date would be August 15. Then, you would only miss out from August 15 to October 1^st, and then from about May 1 to June 15, the cold-water months of the season. Bam, you still have the peak of the summer to make waves for fisherman and water skiers! Take a seat in someone else’s boat and let them drive for once if you need more than that!

There’s only so much control you can have over the date you are sentenced because the court is largely in control of sentencing. However, we can dial it in pretty close and that might matter to you. Call us today at 763-682-1324.

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