Booze ban for rubber dinghy revellers to be lifted
Connoisseurs of the regular Swiss summer pastime of drifting down rivers on rubber dinghies will most likely no longer have to watch what they drink. Regulations are set to change in the next few years, lifting the alcohol limit on people using small water craft.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/mga
Parliament has backed a proposal to lift the limit partly because it is impractical to enforce. Every summer Swiss rivers and lakes fill up with people cooling off on a variety of rubber boats.
Alcohol regularly plays a part in this pursuit, but keeping track of how much everyone has drunk has proved a difficult task.
The Federal Office of Transport has proposed amending statutes governing alcohol consumption that currently stipulates the same limit for rubber dinghies and large boats.
Exceptions will soon apply to craft shorter than 2.5 metres, beach boats, canoes, racing rowing boats, windsurfing and kiteboards and non-motorised rubber boats up to four metres in length. The change is expected to be introduced in 2020.
But there is a darker side to water sports. Between 2007 and 2016, 448 people drowned in Switzerland, according to official statistics. Some 48 died in boating accidents and 166 while swimming in rivers and lakes.
More
More
Why today’s Swiss waterways are fit for swimming
This content was published on
Until the 1950s, waste was dumped directly into Swiss rivers and lakes, resulting in dying fish, bad smells and swimming bans. Much has changed.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
This content was published on
The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
Ecological status of Swiss streams insufficient according to study
This content was published on
Pesticide use and obstructions of waterways have a particularly negative impact on sensitive organisms, completely absent in 70% of streams analysed.
Train line between Brig and Domodossola interrupted
This content was published on
One day after a derailment approximately 15 kilometres from the Swiss border, BLS is running buses for passengers between Preglia and Domodossola, in Italy.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
This content was published on
The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
This content was published on
The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
This content was published on
Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
The dark side of the urban swimming trend
This content was published on
Swimming in rivers has become increasingly popular in Switzerland. But the trend means more swimmers are being saved from drowning. Over the last 20 years, rescue operations on the Rhine in Basel have steadily increased. Now a patrol cruises the Rhine for ten hours every day in summer. Fire brigades, border control and the police…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.