Boat crash survivor behind fight for new OWI law - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A tragedy on Lake Monroe helped to rewrite Indiana law and the changes take effect next month.

An accident victim pushed for the new law, which makes boaters more accountable for deadly crashes, following the death of his own family members.

The rules on the water and the rules of the road will finally match up this summer. Consequences for deadly boat crashes involving impaired drivers will be the same as those involving cars or trucks.

Rusty Collier found out the differences the hard way. He expressed his frustration last year in an interview with Eyewitness News.

"I was shocked. I think everybody's shocked. I don't think anyone realizes that. There were two people left dead on the lake from all of this," Collier said.

Collier survived a boat collision that killed his wife and grandson on Lake Monroe in June 2010. The man driving the speedboat that hit theirs, Winston Wood, didn't have alcohol in his system, but a toxicology test did detect marijuana.

Wood, who was 19 at the time, was charged with leaving the scene of a deadly accident. Thursday night, a jury found him guilty. He faces up to 19 years in jail when sentenced.

But at the time of the crash, Collier fully expected criminal OWI charges to be filed too.

That didn't happen.

"Naturally, you would think they'd be charged with being under the influence, because they would have...that's how it is with a vehicle," Collier said.

But this wasn't a car and Indiana law said there was a difference for boats. Collier pushed for a change and he got it.

Now, people involved in a serious boat crash will get a breath or chemical test. Also, crashes involving someone with alcohol or drugs in their system will result in an automatic OWI.

"I think it's great. I mean it's the same here as it is on the highway. You shouldn't be out here with drugs in here or alcohol. There's too many lives out here," said boater Charles Johnson.

"Operating a boat or operating a vehicle, you have to be safe. You cannot be impaired in any way and we know that people can be impaired by both alcohol and drugs," said Indiana DNR Lt. Tim Beaver. "It gives us the ability to hold those accountable that choose to boat in this manner with a controlled substance in their system."

Accountability and safety is now the legacy of a family who lost so much.