A Des Moines man today renewed his call for a “drunken boating” law in Iowa. Bill Sanders met with the media a day after a Polk County grand jury refused to indict the man involved in the boating death of his wife. Sanders’ wife Dona died July 30th after the boat they were in was struck by another boat operated by James Coles, who officials say was drunk at the time of the accident. Sanders says the grand jury couldn’t use the alcohol test given Coles because there is no law governing drunken boaters.One of Sanders’ co-workers is state Senator Matt McCoy, who is pushing the bill treating drunken boaters the same as drunken car drivers. McCoy calls it “Dona’s Law.”Sanders says he realized getting an indictment from the grand jury was a long shot, but he says their ruling was still a shock.McCoy says past efforts to enact the boating law have failed, but he hopes the Dona Sanders tragedy will change the minds of legislators.
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