{"id":1515,"date":"2015-07-24T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/boating-safety-what-does-virginia-law-require\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:34:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:34:16","slug":"seguridad-en-la-navegacion-que-exige-la-ley-de-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/es\/blog\/boating-safety-what-does-virginia-law-require\/","title":{"rendered":"Seguridad en la navegaci\u00f3n: \u00bfQu\u00e9 exige la ley de Virginia?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The weather is warmer and pollen season has passed.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to hit waterways with family and friends (and the dog) on the boat. \u00a0But before you put your boat in the water there are a few rules with which you should be familiar.<\/p>\n<p>In 2007 the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that requires operators of personal watercraft (PWC)<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn1\">[1]<\/a> and motorboats to complete a boating safety education course.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0 For help finding a boating safety class click here.<\/p>\n<h2>Virginia watercraft and motorboat training requirements<\/h2>\n<p>Who has to complete this course, and by when?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As of July 1, 2014,\n<ul>\n<li>all PWC operators age 14 years and older<\/li>\n<li>all motorboat operators age 45 and younger<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>As of July 1, 2015:\n<ul>\n<li>All PWC operators age 14 and older<\/li>\n<li>All motorboat operators age 50 and younger.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn3\">[3]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Boating laws and safety<\/h2>\n<p>The state of Virginia takes boating laws very seriously.\u00a0 Here are some other rules to keep in mind while boating.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>It is illegal to operate a motorboat or PWC while intoxicated.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn4\">[4]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>It is illegal for someone under the age of 21 to operate a motorboat or PWC with a blood alcohol content greater than 0.02.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn5\">[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>If you are involved in a boating accident you have a duty to stop and offer assistance, and in some cases report the accident to the Virginia Department for Game and Inland Fisheries.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn6\">[6]<\/a>\u00a0 For a copy of the Accident Report Form click here.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>According to the United States Coast Guard, the top five primary factors contributing to boating accidents are: operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed, and machinery failure.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>The importance of life jackets<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWhere cause of death was known, seventy-seven (77) percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, eighty-four (84) percent were not wearing a life jacket.\u201d<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Coast Guard makes the following recommendations for life jackets:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It should be U.S. Coast Guard approved<\/li>\n<li>It should be the proper size for the wearer<\/li>\n<li>It should be in good and serviceable condition, and<\/li>\n<li>It should be properly stowed so that it is readily accessible.<a title=\"\" href=\"#ftn9\">[9]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more tips regarding life jacket safety click <a href=\"http:\/\/uscgboating.org\/recreational-boaters\/life-jacket-wear-wearing-your-life-jacket.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.\u00a0 For more information about boating safety from the U.S. Coast Guard click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LUdRHP_Te5s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.\u00a0 For more information about boating safety from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qOX8NAqXO04\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>About the Author:<\/strong> <\/em>Paul Hux is a partner and trial attorney at Allen, Allen, Allen &amp; Allen. His practice is dedicated entirely to plantiff&#8217;s personal injury, including car accidents, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/richmond-wrongful-death-lawyers\/\">wrongful death<\/a>, and traumatic brain injuries. Paul works out of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/chesterfield-personal-injury-lawyer\/\">Midlothian\/Chesterfield branch of the firm<\/a> and has been practicing personal injury law for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" \/>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn1\"><\/a>[1] Under Virginia law, a \u201cpersonal watercraft\u201d is a motorboat less than sixteen feet in length which uses an inboard motor powering a jet pump, as its primary motive power and which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside, the vessel.\u00a0<em>See <\/em>Va. Code Ann. \u00a729.1-738, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-700\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-700<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn2\"><\/a>[2] <em>See <\/em>Boating Safety Education Requirement, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, <em>available at <\/em>http:\/\/www.dgif.virginia.gov\/boating\/education\/requirement\/ (last visited Apr. 17, 2015).<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn3\"><\/a>[3] <em>See id.<\/em>; <em>See also <\/em>Va. Code Ann. \u00a729.1-735.2, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/29.1-735.2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/29.1-735.2\/.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn4\"><\/a>[4] <em>See <\/em>Va. Code Ann. \u00a729.1-738, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-738\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-738<\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn5\"><\/a>[5] <em>See <\/em>Va. Code Ann. \u00a729.1-738.02, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-738.02\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+29.1-738.02<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn6\"><\/a>[6] <em>See <\/em>Reporting a Boating Accident, Va. Dep\u2019t of Game and Inland Fisheries, <em>available at <\/em>http:\/\/www.dgif.virginia.gov\/boating\/accident.asp (last visited Apr. 17, 2015); <em>see also <\/em>Va. Code Ann. \u00a729.1-739, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title29.1\/chapter7\/section29.1-739\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title29.1\/chapter7\/section29.1-739\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn7\"><\/a>[7] Recreational Boating Statistics, U.S. Coast Guard 1, 6 (2013), <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/uscgboating.org\/statistics\/accident_statistics.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/uscgboating.org\/statistics\/accident_statistics.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn8\"><\/a>[8] <em>Id.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" name=\"ftn9\"><\/a>[9] <em>See <\/em>How to Choose the Right Life Jacket, U.S. Coast Guard, <em>available at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/uscgboating.org\/recreational-boaters\/life-jacket-wear-wearing-your-life-jacket.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/uscgboating.org\/recreational-boaters\/life-jacket-wear-wearing-your-life-jacket.php<\/a> (last visited Apr. 17, 2015).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>El clima es m\u00e1s c\u00e1lido y la temporada de polen ha pasado. Es hora de ir a las v\u00edas fluviales con la familia y los amigos (y el perro) en el bote. Pero antes de que pongas tu bote ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Boating Safety: What Does Virginia Law Require? | Virginia Personal Injury Attorneys | Allen, Allen, Allen &amp; Allen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since 2007, Virginia requires operators of personal watercraft (PWC) and motorboats to complete a boating safety education course.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/es\/blog\/seguridad-en-la-navegacion-que-exige-la-ley-de-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boating Safety: What Does Virginia Law Require?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since 2007, Virginia requires operators of personal watercraft (PWC) and motorboats to complete a boating safety education course.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.allenandallen.com\/es\/blog\/seguridad-en-la-navegacion-que-exige-la-ley-de-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Allen and Allen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-24T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-27T18:34:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"superfli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@allenandallen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@allenandallen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"superfli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seguridad en la navegaci\u00f3n: \u00bfQu\u00e9 exige la ley de Virginia? 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