Title 46
Waters and Navigation

Chapter 22.2
Alcohol Boating Safety Act

R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22.2-7

§ 46-22.2-7. Testing of blood of persons killed in watercraft accidents.

(a) The director of the department of health shall provide a procedure whereby all morticians in the state shall obtain blood samples from all watercraft operators who have died as a result of and contemporaneously with an accident involving a watercraft.

(b) All law enforcement officers shall report such fatalities to the director of the department of health immediately after their occurrence.

(c) The blood sample, with such other information as may be required, shall be delivered to the director of the department of health. Upon receipt of such sample the director shall cause such tests to be performed as may be required to determine the amount of alcohol or controlled substance that may be contained in such sample.

(d) The results of such tests shall be used exclusively for statistical purposes and the sample shall never be identified with the name of the deceased. Any person releasing or making public such information, other than as herein prescribed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

History of Section.
P.L. 1991, ch. 148, § 1; P.L. 1991, ch. 231, § 1.