Laws and Safety Equipment

Return to Table of Contents

1

 Laws

2

 Numbering

3

 Safety Equipment-Life Jackets

4

 Fire Extinguishers

5

 Visual Distress Signals

6

 Ventilation

7

 Mufflers

8

 Backfire and Flame Control

9

 Whistle Bell and Horn

10

 Navigation Lights

11

 Pollution and Garbage

12

 Safe and Legal Operation

13

 Personal Watercraft

14

 Water Skiing

15

 Diving

16

 Boating Under the Influence

17

 Accidents

18

 Chapter Review

Chapter Two: California Laws and Safety Requirements

Practice safe and legal boating every time you are on the water. Boating is a highly regulated recreational activity, and there may be occasions when a law enforcement officer will inspect your boat for compliance with equipment and legal conformity. The boat operator has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of all passengers and this includes making certain all required safety equipment is onboard the boat and ready to use.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

CALIFORNIA

Department of Boating & Waterways
2000 Evergreen Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA  95815-3888
CA Logo

Mission Statement:

to promote safety for persons and property in and connected with the use and equipment of vessels and to promote uniformity of laws relating thereto.

Education
Phone:  916.263.8188
Fax:  916.263.0357
Titling & Registration
Department of Motor Vehicles
PO Box 942869
Sacramento CA 94269-0001
Phone:  916.657.5769
Fax:  916.657.8643

Every peace officer of this state or of any city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state shall enforce the boating laws and any regulations adopted by the department and in the exercise of that duty shall have the authority to stop and board any vessel subject to this chapter, where the peace officer has probable cause to believe that a violation of state law or regulations or local ordinance exists.

  • A peace officer or harbor police officer authorized to enforce this chapter may order the termination of the operation of a vessel which is found to be unsafe for operation.

Within the territorial limits of a county, city, or district, a harbor policeman regularly employed and paid as such by the county, city, or district shall also enforce the provisions the boating laws and any rules or regulations adopted by the department.

  • In the exercise of his duties, a harbor policeman shall have the authority to stop any vessel subject to this chapter and to issue written notices to appear in court.
  • Every harbor policeman who is on duty for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the boating laws, and the rules and regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter, shall wear a full distinctive uniform, and, if he uses a vessel, the vessel shall be painted a distinctive color and appropriately marked as specified by the department to identify it as a harbor police vessel.

LAW ENFORCEMENT LIGHTS

The use of a distinctive blue light as prescribed by the department is reserved for law enforcement vessels and may be displayed during the day or night whenever the vessel may be engaged in direct law enforcement activities.

  • That light when used shall be in addition to prescribed lights and day signals required by law.
  • The display of such blue lights on vessels for other purposes is prohibited.

ACTION TO TAKE IF APPROACHED BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT VESSEL

Any vessel approaching, overtaking, being approached, or being overtaken by a moving law enforcement vessel operating with a siren or an illuminated blue light, or any vessel approaching a stationary law enforcement vessel displaying an illuminated blue light, shall immediately slow to a speed sufficient to maintain steerage only, shall alter its course, within its ability, so as not to inhibit or interfere with the operation of the law enforcement vessel, and shall proceed, unless otherwise directed by the operator of the law enforcement vessel, at the reduced speed until beyond the area of operation of the law enforcement vessel.

Every vessel subject to this chapter, if under way and lawfully ordered to stop and lie to by a peace officer or harbor policeman authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter who is either in a uniform of a law enforcement agency or the harbor police or in a vessel that is distinctly marked as belonging to a law enforcement agency or to the harbor police, shall stop immediately and lie to, or shall maneuver in such a way as to permit the peace officer or harbor police vessel to come alongside.

DEFINITIONS

"Alcohol" means any form or derivative of ethyl alcohol (ethanol).

"Alcoholconcentration" means either grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.

"Associated equipment" means any of the following, excluding radio equipment:

  1. Any system, part, or component of a boat as originally manufactured or any similar part or component manufactured or sold for replacement, repair, or improvement of the system, part, or component.
  2. Any accessory or equipment for, or appurtenance to, a boat.
  3. Any marine safety article, accessory, or equipment intended for use by a person on board a boat.

"Bather" or "bathing" means a person floating, swimming, wading, or bodysurfing, with or without the use of a flotation device, including, but not limited to, floating upon or with the aid of a surfboard, paddle board, surfmat, innertube, life preserver, or air mattress, except a flotation device which is designed to be propelled by sail, mechanical means, power, oars, or paddle.

"Boat" means any vessel that is any of the following:

  1. Manufactured or used primarily for noncommercial use.
  2. Leased, rented, or chartered to another for the latter's noncommercial use.
  3. Engaged in the carrying of six or fewer passengers, including those for-hire vessels carrying more than three passengers while using inland waters of the state that are not declared navigable by the United States Coast Guard.
  4. Commercial vessels required to be numbered pursuant to Section 9850 of the Vehicle Code.

"Chemical test" means a test that analyzes an individual's breath, blood, or urine, for evidence of drug or alcohol use.

"Controlled substance" means controlled substance as defined in Section 11007 of the Health and Safety Code.

"Department" means the Department of Boating and Waterways.

"Director" means the Director of Boating and Waterways.

"Drug" means any substance or combination of substances other than alcohol that could so affect the nervous system, brain, or muscles of a person as to impair to an appreciable degree his or her ability to operate a vessel in the manner that an ordinarily prudent person, in full possession of his or her faculties, using reasonable care, would operate a similar vessel under like conditions.

"Intoxicant" means any form of alcohol, drug, or combination thereof.

"Legal owner" is a person holding the legal title to a vessel under a conditional sale contract, the mortgagee of a vessel, or the renter or lessor of a vessel to the state, or to any county, city, district, or political subdivision of the state, under a lease, lease-sale, or rental-purchase agreement that grants possession of the vessel to the lessee for a period of 30 consecutive days or more.

"Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by machinery, whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion, but shall not include a vessel that has a valid marine document issued by the United States Coast Guard or any federal agency successor thereto.

"Operator" means the person on board who is steering the vessel while underway.

"Owner" is a person having all the incidents of ownership, including the legal title, of a vessel whether or not that person lends, rents, or pledges the vessel; the person entitled to the possession of a vessel as the purchaser under a conditional sale contract; or the mortgagor of a vessel. "Owner" does not include a person holding legal title to a vessel under a conditional sale contract, the mortgagee of a vessel, or the renter or lessor of avessel to the state or to any county, city, district, or political subdivision of the state under a lease, lease-sale, or rental-purchase agreement that grants possession of the vessel to the lessee for a period of 30 consecutive days or more.

"Passenger" means every person carried on board a vessel other than any of the following:

  1. The owner or his or her representative.
  2. The operator.
  3. Bona fide members of the crew engaged in the business of the vessel who have contributed no consideration for their carriage and who are paid for their services.
  4. Any guest on board a vessel that is being used exclusively for pleasure purposes who has not contributed any consideration, directly or indirectly, for his or her carriage.

"Person" means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other entity, but does not include the United States, the state, or a municipality or subdivision thereof.

"Personal watercraft" means a vessel 13 feet in length or less, propelled by machinery, that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.

"Recreational vessel" means a vessel that is being used only for pleasure.

"Registered owner" is the person registered by the Department of Motor Vehicles as the owner of the vessel.

"Special-use area" means all or a portion of a waterway that is set aside for specified uses or activities to the exclusion of other incompatible uses or activities.

"State" means a state of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia.

"State of principal use" means the state on which waters a vessel is used or intended to be used most during a calendar year.

"Undocumented vessel" means any vessel that is not required to have, and does not have, a valid marine document issued by the United States Coast Guard or any federal agency successor thereto.

"Use" means operate, navigate, or employ.

"Vessel" includes every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except either of the following:

  1. A seaplane on the water.
  2. A watercraft specifically designed to operate on a permanently fixed course, the movement of which is restricted to a fixed track or arm to which the watercraft is attached or by which the watercraft is controlled.

"Water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device" includes all forms of water skiing, barefoot skiing, skiing on skim boards, knee boards, or other contrivances, parasailing, ski kiting, or any activity where a person is towed behind or alongside a boat.

"Waters of this state" means any waters within the territorial limits of this state.


   
Copyright © 2004-2007 American Boating Education
Last Modified: May 2, 2005