Connecticut and Virginia Jet Ski Laws

You asked for a summary of the personal watercraft laws in Connecticut and Virginia.

Connecticut and Virginia laws regulating personal watercraft operation are similar in several respects, but Connecticut's safety and safety training requirements for operators are more stringent. Both states have laws prohibiting reckless operation of personal watercraft. Virginia has several laws aimed specifically at jetski rental businesses and dealers, most notably a requirement that all rented jetskis have a large “R” on each side of the vessel.

State law defines personal watercrafts (known as jetskis) as vessels under 16 feet long with an internal combustion engine powering a water-jet pump and which are designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than inside it.

Jetski operators must (1) successfully complete a personal watercraft handling course approved by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and (2) obtain a certificate of personal watercraft operation. Anyone under 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult in addition to having a certificate of personal watercraft operation (CGS ∋ 15-140h). Operators must have their certificate onboard while operating a jetski.

Anyone applying for the personal watercraft certificate must first (or concurrently) obtain a safe boating certificate required for all vessel operation (CGS § 15-140e). Both certificates require applicants to pass a written test. The DEP may issue a six-month temporary certificate to new jetski owners if they have completed the safety course.

PA 97-72 allows DEP to enter into reciprocal agreements for jetski operating certificates with other states that have similarly stringent requirements. Currently, DEP has an agreement with Massachusetts.

Connecticut does not have special requirements for jetski rental businesses. However, renters must have a DEP certificate to rent a jetski. As a result, jetski rentals are uncommon in Connecticut.

DEP offers the safety course from February through October. DEP offers the courses all over the state in a variety of sites including all the community technical collages. The course is free of charge but there is a $25 fee for the personal watercraft safety certificate. The safety course includes (1) safe personal watercraft operation, (2) courtesy to other users of the waters, and (3) applicability of boating law to personal watercraft. The DEP offered approximately 160 personal watercraft safety courses last year; and this year it has begun to combine the course with the boating safety course required for traditional vessels. DEP expects to offer approximately 300 combined courses and 40-50 personal watercraft courses this year.

Personal watercrafts are subject to the following restrictions and operation requirements:

1. everyone onboard must wear a United States Coast Guard approved lifejacket or flotation device (types I, II, III, V, or V-hybrid);

2. no one may operate a jetski before sunrise or after sunset;

3. no one may use a jetski to water-ski;

4. generally no one may operate a jetski faster than six miles per hour within 200 feet of shore on a lake or a pond or near a moored or anchored vessel;

5. no one may use a jetski to wake jump within 100 feet of the vessel creating the wake; and

6. anyone operating a jetski with a kill switch must have the switch attached using a lanyard or string so the engine will shut off if the operator falls off the vessel.

Anyone who operates a jetski in a reckless manner is subject a $50 to $1,000 fine and up to six month in prison (CGS ∋ 15-140k to 140m). Reckless operation is the failure to exercise the necessary degree of care to prevent endangering other people or their property.

Virginia recently passed several new laws regarding personal watercraft operation and safety, in addition to its existing boating laws. The Virginia laws are similar to Connecticut's in some respects (such as reckless boating), but are not as protective overall. One notable difference is that they do not require most personal watercraft operators to pass a safe boating course. Only operators under age 16 are required to pass such a course (Va. Code Ch. 443). Virginia law does not prohibit towing water-skiers with a jetski and does not appear to require operators to use a kill-switch lanyard.

Under Virginia law, reckless operation of a personal watercraft is a Class I misdemeanor. A person is guilty of reckless operation if he operates a vessel in a manner or at a speed that endangers the life, limb, or property of someone else (Va. Code Ch 514). The prohibition is the same as the Virginia's existing prohibition on reckless motorboat operation. It is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and up to one year in prison (which appears to make this a felony). Operators convicted of a second offense are banned from operating a jetski for one year.

Virginia's new law establishes several requirements related to business that rent jetskis. The law requires rental businesses to provide some safety instruction before renting a vessel. It requires jetski people hired to demonstrate jetski operations for dealers to pass a safe boating course and to be licensed by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. In addition, the law requires business that rent vessels to place a large “R” on both sides of the vessel.

The law requires insurers that offer boating liability coverage to offer an uninsured operator coverage option.


March 30, 1999		99-R-0476
CONNECTICUT AND VIRGINIA JETSKI LAWS
To:
By: Matthew Ranelli, Associate Attorney