Texans own nearly 600,000 boats, putting the state at number six nationally. Getting out on the water on a boat or personal watercraft can be a relaxing and refreshing way to escape the Texas heat. But, ensuring that boats and personal watercraft (PWC) are operated by qualified boaters is critical. Although the state mandates boater education for operators born after September 1, 1993, inexperience accounts for a significant percentage of Jet Ski accidents.
What is a Personal Watercraft (PWC)?
Texas Parks & Wildlife defines a PWC or personal watercraft as ‘a type of motorboat that is specifically designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing, or kneeling ON the vessel rather than INSIDE the vessel.’ Some of the most common PWCs include Jet Skis, Sea-Doos, and Waverunners.
What makes PWCs dangerous?
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, more than 1/3 of all boating injuries occur on PWCs. Several factors contribute to the higher risk associated with PWCs, including:
- PWCs can make sharper, faster turns than most boats,
- The rider can more easily be thrown from the vessel,
- Most PWCs lose steering capacity when the throttle is released to slow the vessel.
PWCs also face some of the same safety challenges as boats. Since neither boats nor PWCs have brakes, it can take hundreds of feet to stop these vessels. That’s particularly problematic for a PWC operator, who may have to choose between slowing the vehicle as quickly as possible and re-engaging the throttle to regain steering capability.
What happens when you release the throttle on a Personal Watercraft (PWC)?
The moment you let go of the throttle on a PWC your ability to steer it left or right is gone. Your PWC will continue to move in the direction it was going at a slower pace, but you will have no ability to steer it. It is like letting off the gas of a car as it is driving down the road.
Rider Mispercention of PWCs
One of the most significant risk factors contributing to many PWC accidents has less to do with the vessel itself than with the way PWCs are perceived by their owners and others. While few people will hand an inexperienced friend the keys to a speedboat, Jet Skis, Sea-Doos, and Waverunners appear more manageable and less dangerous. That perception often leads to poor decisions about who is allowed to hop on a Jet Ski or other PWC and take off. And, while giving a friend the wheel on a boat often involves the owner standing by ready to assist in case of emergency, many inexperienced riders take off on PWCs alone. Underage operation of PWCs is common due to parents viewing them as recreational toys proper for all ages similar to a dirt bike or a skateboard.
Inexperienced PWC Riders Cause Accidents
Seaworthy magazine studied insurance claim data for PWC crashes and other boating accidents and revealed this surprising statistic: Only 18% of PWC-related insurance claims involved the owner of the vessel. Friends of the owners accounted for more than half of all PWC accident claims, and siblings another 29%. An older study from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that nearly half of those injured while operating a PWC were operating a PWC for the first or second time.
Texas Laws On PWC Operation
In the state of Texas, several rules apply to the operations of PWCs. These rules pertain to age limits, operational requirements, and the requirement of safety training and boater education courses.
Can children legally operate a PWC alone in Texas?
In Texas children under the age of 13 years old may not operate a PWC without a person who is at least 18 and has met the requirements to lawfully operate the PWC.
Laws Regarding the Operation of PWCs in Texas
There are several laws regulating the safe operation of PWCs. These laws include:
- A rider may not operate a PWC after 1/2 hour after dark and 1/2 hour before sunrise. PWCs are difficult for other boats to see in the dark and may pose a hazard to other boaters.
- When the PWC is being operated within 50 feet of another PWC, motorboat, vessel, platform, person, object, or shore, they must only operate it at “headway speed.” Headway speed is the maximum speed (idle speed) required to maintain the steering of the vessel w without creating a swell or wake to affect other persons on the water.
- A PWC operator may not ride or jump the wake created by another vessel in a manner that brings it dangerously close to the other vessel or that is reckless in regard to other water-goers.
- Operating at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and prudent or greater than will permit the rider to bring the PWC to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead.
- A rider may not create a hazardous wake or wash for others.
- An operator may not do circles around another vessel that is fishing, waterskiing, or engaging in other recreational water activities.
- A rider may not moor or attach to any buoy, beacon, light marker, stake, flag, or other aid to safe operation, or to move, remove, displace, tamper with, damage, or destroy the same.
- PWC riders cannot drive into an area designated for other purposes such as fishing or swimming.
- PWC riders are subject to the same reckless driving rules as if they were in a car.
- A person using a PWC may not operate it within 50 feet of a “Diver Down Flag” above the headway speed.
In addition, operators are expected to be familiar with general boating and water safety laws and rules such as
- There is a general prohibition on recreational swimming or diving within two hundred yards of any sightseeing or excursion boat.
- Operators of any water vessel on a waterway cannot anchor so as to impede a river or channel so that other vessels may not pass.
- You cannot operate any water vessel including a PWC while intoxicated by alcohol, medications, or drugs.
- Watercraft users may not operate within the designated “no wake” area above headway speed.
Mandatory Boater Education in Texas
Texas requires boater education course completion for anyone operating a PWC, powerboat, or windblown vessel more than 14 feet in length. However, this rule is severely lacking and full of loopholes. That requirement applies only to operators born after September 1, 1993, and there are exemptions in certain situations such as when they are operating the vessel on a private body of water. In addition, the PWC operators may take an online boater safety course and a certificate printed after passing a test. Unlike drivers of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles, PWC operators are not subjected to hands-on testing. In fact, one may complete the course and receive a Boater Education Card without ever having been on a boat!
Watercraft Safety
First and foremost, don’t loan your Jet Ski, Sea-Doo, or Waverunner to a friend who doesn’t have the training or experience to handle it. And, don’t assume that you’ll be able to manage a new PWC or one belonging to someone else just because it looks easy when your friend is out on the water. New riders should, at a minimum:
- Complete the boater education course, even if it isn’t mandatory.
- Start in unoccupied water, to avoid potential hazards and the need to navigate around other vessels and learn how to handle the personal watercraft there.
- Start slowly—some PWCs have “beginner keys” that control the speed of the craft, but if the one you’re operating doesn’t, use your own judgment to keep the speed low.
Speak to a PWC Accident Lawyer
When an inexperienced rider injures someone else while operating a PWC, the operator may be liable for the harm caused to the other person and his or her vessel. But, the responsibility may not stop there. An owner who hands over the keys to an unqualified or inexperienced operator may share that liability through the negligent entrustment of the vehicle. If you or someone you know has been injured due to the inexperienced, negligent, or reckless operation of a personal watercraft, talk to a PWC accident lawyer today. Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., Injury & Accident Lawyers have been fighting for the rights of the injured since 1979. We offer a free consultation. If we take your case, we work on a contingency fee basis so that we cover the up front costs of investigating the case and pursuing a lawsuit and you do not reimburse our expenses nor pay any attorney fee unless we make a recovery for you. Call 800-2980-111 for your free consult today.
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