Boating season is over for most areas in California, yet that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop talking about our boating laws. In fact, at Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas, we think know is the perfect time. Some experts believe that the lack of state laws in California are making our waterways unsafe for everyone. Let’s examine the laws we have compared to laws in other areas.
If you’ve been involved in a boating or drowning accident and believe that someone else was responsible, then you may have grounds for a personal injury case. The first step is to talk to a personal injury attorney to find out what your legal options are. Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas is here to offer a free legal consultation. Just call us at 909-982-0707 to set it up.
You don’t need a license to drive a boat in California
Many states that see a lot of boat traffic require boaters to have a license to operate. This is not true in California. There’s no requirement for any type of training or education to legally drive a boat. There is an age requirement but it’s much lower than in most other states. In California, a person only has to be 12 years old to drive a boat. Many children that age aren’t allowed to stay home alone, yet the state allows them to drive a boat.
Would more restrictions make boating accidents less frequent?
The jury is out on what would happen if there were more boating restrictions in California. Some people say that people would still boat even if they didn’t have a license simply because it’s unlikely to get caught.
Others say that while there may not be a lot that could be done to stop people from breaking the law, if a law was passed that a license was required to drive a boat, and to get that license a person had to get some sort of training or education, and to demonstrate that they know the basics of driving a boat, then more people would get training and education.
Can you guess how common boating accidents are in California?
One thing we can look at is the number of boating accidents in California compared to states with much stricter boating laws. Many areas in the stat are seeing a significant increase in these accidents, more and more each year. For example, the waterways between the San Francisco Bay and the Sierra Mountains are seeing a lot of accidents.
Overall, there are more accidents in California than almost every other state in the country. In fact, there’s only one state that has more boating accidents than we do: Florida. It’s important to note that Florida also has fairly lax boating laws. When you look at all the information together, it does appear as though tightening California’s boating laws could have a positive effect on the number of boating accidents that happen each year.
