CONCORD – A new law will make drunk boating penalties as strict as those for drunk driving.

Governor Pat McCrory was joined by students, teachers, elected officials and Sheyenne Marshall’s family  at Cox Mill High School as he signed legislation to crack down on drunk boating.

House Bill 958 was named in honor of Sheyenne Marshall, a Concord teen and rising senior at Cox Mill killed by a drunk boater on Lake Norman last year over the Fourth of July weekend.

“This bill cannot bring Sheyenne back to us, but it can help save others by sending a strong message that drunk driving in a boat is just as dangerous as in a car,” Governor McCrory said. “With summer here and millions of people flocking to our state’s lakes and beaches, I want to remind everyone not to drink and drive.”

Sheyenne’s Law will strengthen penalties for causing death or serious injury by impaired boating from a misdemeanor to a felony.

In 2015, 25 people died due to boating-related accidents in North Carolina, and nearly half of those fatalities involved alcohol.