Alex Otte knows all too well the dangers of driving − and especially boating − while intoxicated.

And she learned that lesson long before she was old enough to take a sip of liquor.

Now 27, Otte, who has served as national president of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and worked with the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, is working to raise awareness of boat safety and the dangers of impaired driving, whether on land or on water.

Otte was just 13 on July 2, 2010, when her life changed irrevocably. The teen was on an idling jet ski on a Kentucky lake near her father's home when an intoxicated boater slammed into her at more than 60 mph. She suffered devastating injuries, including a severed leg from the boat's propeller, a broken neck and collarbone, a shattered jaw, two shattered femurs and a brain injury.

Her parents, who were nearby with her brothers preparing to bring their own boat home, were told to say goodbye, perhaps forever, to their gravely injured daughter as she was loaded onto a medical helicopter. She was in a coma for a week; months and years of surgeries, physical therapy, chronic pain and emotional anguish followed.

"When people say to me, 'How long did your recovery take,' I say, 'I'll let you know when I get there,'" she said.

"We don't want to think about safety when we're having fun," Otte said. Unlike driving, which is something people often have to do, boating, she added, "is seen as recreation, so people don't consider safety in the same way."

Few people, she said, would get into a car without buckling their seat belts. But many people neglect to wear lifejackets on a boat. Factors such as currents, waves, wind and speed affect a boat in ways drivers of cars never have to consider. Steering and stopping a boat are far different than maneuvering a car.

"There's no brake on a boat," the Lexington, Kentucky, resident said. "Boats don't stop."

While the culture around drunken driving has changed over the last three decades, Otte said, it has largely remained the same around boating. "Every day people watch others get on a boat with a cooler full of beer, or a bunch of adults will drink on a boat with children aboard," she said.

But intoxicated boaters, even if they avoid catastrophe on the water, often turn into drunken drivers, hitching their vessels to a truck and getting back on the road, often after a day of drinking.

Safety tips from the U.S. Coast Guard

Of course, staying sober isn't the only way to stay safe on the water. The National Safety Council offers these tips for general boating safety:

• Life jackets are highly recommended ‒ and, depending on state laws, required in many cases – for all boaters, regardless of age or swimming abilities. Make sure life jackets are fitted and fastened properly.
• Make sure your boat and all equipment, including navigation, steering, safety equipment like fire extinguishers and first aid kits are fully operational and well-stocked. Free vessel safety checks are available through local U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliaries or other organizations.
• Develop a float plan ‒ basically, a record of passengers, vessel information, destinations/routes/itineraries and more – and leave it with someone trusted and reliable before you leave.
• Dress properly and bring extra sets of clothing, and remember to use sunscreen and recognize signs of heat illness, especially in the summer.
• Pay close attention to weather reports and forecasts; weather can change quickly and in the event of sudden temperature drops and/or increased wind speeds, get off the water as soon as possible.
• Do not drink and operate a boat; alcohol and other intoxicants affect judgment, balance, vision and coordination.

The National Association of Boating Law Administrators also offers a detailed boat safety plan, including information about boating safety courses, pre-departure checklists and more.

'It wasn't the water that hurt me'

Otte, who once dreamed of being "the next Erin Andrews, always on the sideline at NFL games," channeled her pain into preventing other people from going through the trauma she endured.

The daughter of a former trauma nurse (her mother) and a rescue marine officer (her father), she's now married to a police officer and the mother of a 10-month-old baby. But it was a long road, and nearly 14 years to the day since the collision, she's still dealing with its aftermath.

"It will never not impact my life, physically, emotionally and in every other way," she said. The boater who hit her had already been cited for drunken driving; though he was arrested at the scene of the collision with Otte's jet ski, he was let go with a fine and, Otte said, "given the chance to reoffend ‒ which he did."

Operating a vessel while intoxicated was a choice that boater made, she said, and a choice she hopes others will avoid. "I know because of people like me sharing our stories, it might prevent this from happening to other people, and that along with law enforcement taking (impaired operators) off the road and off the water, more little girls will make it home safely."

Her father still lives near the water, she said, and as soon as she was able to return to the water after the crash, she did.

"it wasn’t the water that hurt me," she said.

Contact Phaedra Trethan by email at [email protected], on X (formerly Twitter) @wordsbyphaedra, or on Threads @by_phaedra