BOATING ACCIDENTS

COLLISION, ACCIDENT, OR OTHER CASUALTY

• The operator and/or passenger of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty, shall render to other persons involved in the collision, accident, or other casualty reasonable assistance as may be necessary and practicable and shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of such accident to the local police department if such accident occurs within a municipality, or to the office of the county sheriff or nearest state highway patrol headquarters after complying with the requirements of this section.
• The operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty shall give his name, address, and identification of his vessel, in writing, to any person injured in the collision, accident, or other casualty and to the owner of any property damaged in the collision, accident, or other casualty.
• If a collision, accident, or other casualty results in death or injury to a person or damage to property in excess of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), the operator of the vessel involved in the collision, accident, or other casualty shall file with the Department of Public Safety a full description of the collision, accident, or other casualty, and such information as the Department may require if an occurrence involving a vessel or its equipment results in one or more of the following:
  1. A person dies;
  2. A person is injured and requires medical treatment beyond first aid;
  3. Damage to the vessel and other property totals more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or there is a complete loss of the vessel;
  4. A person disappears from the vessel under circumstances that indicate death or injury;
  5. A person drowns in swimming to retrieve a vessel that is adrift from its mooring or dock, having departed from a position of inherent safety such as a shore or pier;
  6. A person drowns while swimming from a vessel for pleasure and the vessel does not contribute to the drowning;
  7. A person drowns after falling from a vessel that is moored or anchored for use as a swimming platform or other purpose;
  8. A person dies or is injured while in the act of launching a vessel into a body of water;
  9. A person drowns or is injured while surfing;
  10. A fatality or injury occurs to an operator or a crew member while participating in an organized/sanctioned race, or warm‑up, in a vessel uniquely designed for racing; or
  11. Damage, injury or death on a docked, moored or anchored vessel resulting from unusual wake or wave conditions

NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE