Keeping safety a priority will prevent most PWC accidents
Every operator should have both the physical capability and the mature judgment needed to operate the watercraft safely. Mature judgment comes with experience and age. For some operators, the temptation to jump wakes or sneak between boats is difficult to resist. The operator with mature judgment will recognize these situations as extremely dangerous. Besides not knowing which direction the other operator may decide to go, large ships and barges will not be able to stop quickly. Remember, boats don’t have brakes. Never jump wakes, and never cut in front of another boat. Being responsible means staying alert, making safety-conscious decisions and operating the PWC defensively. It’s better to be a safe operator who is alive than to regret your misjudgment after an accident, an injury, or worse.
Keeping safety a priority will prevent most PWC accidents. To ensure other safe practices, Virginia has specific laws for personal watercraft operation. Our Virginia Game Wardens enforce these laws. Listed below are the specific PWC laws:
Restrictions on Operation
It shall be unlawful for any person to:
- Operate a personal watercraft unless he is at least sixteen years of age, except any person fourteen or fifteen years of age shall be allowed to operate a personal watercraft if he (i) has successfully completed a boating safety education course approved by the Director and (ii) carries on his person, while operating a personal watercraft, proof of successful completion of such course. Upon the request of a law-enforcement officer, such person shall provide proof of having successfully completed an approved course;
- Beginning July 1, 2009, other PWC operators will need to comply with our boating safety education requirement.
- Operate a personal watercraft unless each person riding on the personal watercraft is wearing a type I, type II, type III, or type V personal flotation device approved by the United State Coast Guard;
- Fail to attach the lanyard to his person, clothing, or personal flotation device, if the personal watercraft is equipped with a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch;
- Operate a personal watercraft on the waters of the Commonwealth between sunset and sunrise;
- Operate a personal watercraft while carrying a number of passengers in excess of the number for which the craft was designed by the manufacturer; or Operate a personal watercraft in excess of the slowest possible speed required to maintain steerage and headway within fifty feet of docks, piers, boathouses, boat ramps, people in the water, and vessels other than personal watercraft. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a personal watercraft from towing a person with a rope less than fifty feet in length.
Note: The above provisions do not apply to participants in regattas, races, marine parades, tournament or exhibitions approved by the Board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries or the United States Coast Guard.
