§ 73-A — Regulations of personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft

§ 73-a. Regulations of personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft.\n1. Personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft. a. No person shall\noperate a personal watercraft or a specialty prop-craft unless each\nperson riding on such vessel is wearing a securely fastened United\nStates Coast Guard approved personal flotation device.\n b. No person shall operate a personal watercraft or a specialty\nprop-craft unless such vessel is equipped and fitted with a United\nStates Coast Guard approved device for arresting carburetor backfire.\n c. No person shall operate a personal watercraft or a specialty\nprop-craft unless such vessel is equipped with:\n (i) at least two ventilators fitted with cowls or their equivalent for\nthe purpose of properly and efficiently ventilating the bilges of every\nengine and fuel tank compartment in order to remove any inflammable or\nexplosive gases provided, however, if the vessel is so constructed as to\nhave the greater portion of the bilges under the engine and fuel tanks\nopen and exposed to the natural atmosphere at all times such vessel need\nnot be required to be fitted with such ventilators; and\n (ii) an efficient sound producing mechanical appliance, except sirens,\ncapable of producing a blast of two seconds or more in duration and of\nsuch strength as to be heard plainly for a distance of at least one-half\nmile in still weather; and\n (iii) a fluorescent-orange distress flag which shall be a minimum of\none foot square or other appropriate United States Coast Guard approved\nvisual distress signal.\n d. Any person operating a personal watercraft or a specialty\nprop-craft equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard type engine\ncut-off switch shall attach such lanyard to his or her person, clothing,\nor personal flotation device as is appropriate for the specific vessel.\n e. No person shall operate a personal watercraft or a specialty\nprop-craft at any time from sunset to sunrise.\n f. No person shall operate a personal watercraft or a specialty\nprop-craft within five hundred feet of any designated bathing area,\nexcept in bodies of water where the opposing shoreline is less than five\nhundred feet from such designated area and in accordance with speed\nregulations and restrictions as provided by local law or ordinance but\nin no event at a speed in excess of ten miles per hour, provided,\nhowever, that nothing contained in this subdivision shall be construed\nto prohibit the launching of such vessel from designated launching areas\nor sites.\n g. Every personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft shall at all\ntimes be operated in a reasonable and prudent manner. Maneuvers which\nunreasonably or unnecessarily endanger life, limb, or property,\nincluding, but not limited to, (i) weaving through congested vessel\ntraffic, or (ii) jumping the wake of another vessel unreasonably or\nunnecessarily close to such other vessel or when visibility around such\nother vessel is obstructed, or (iii) swerving at the last possible\nmoment to avoid collision shall constitute reckless operation of a\nvessel, as provided in section forty-five of this article.\n h. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any performer\nengaged in a professional exhibition or any person preparing to\nparticipate or participating in a regatta, race, marine parade,\ntournament, or exhibition authorized under section thirty-four of this\nchapter.\n i. The provisions of this section shall apply to the operation of a\npersonal watercraft and a specialty prop-craft on any waterway or body\nof water located within New York state and not privately owned and any\npart of any body of water adjacent to New York state over which the\nstate has territorial jurisdiction, including all tidewaters bordering\non and lying within the boundaries of Nassau and Suffolk counties.\n j. The provisions of section forty of this chapter shall not apply to\npersonal watercraft or specialty prop-craft.\n 2. Liveries. Notwithstanding the provisions of section forty-nine or\nseventy-one-d of this chapter, no livery shall lease, hire, or rent a\npersonal watercraft or a specialty prop-craft to any person unless:\n (a) such person is sixteen years of age or older.\n (b) the operator of such livery, or his designated agent, prior to\npermitting the use by such person of such personal watercraft or\nspecialty prop-craft, explains and demonstrates to such person by video\nor actual in water demonstration the operating procedure of such\npersonal watercraft or specialty prop-craft and the use of such vessel's\nsafety equipment;\n (c) such person, after receiving the explanation and demonstration\nrequired pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision, demonstrates to\nsuch livery operator or to such designated agent the ability to operate\nsuch vessel and use the applicable safety equipment;\n (d) such person has presented genuine proof of identification and age;\nand except as provided in paragraph (f) of this subdivision, has\ndemonstrated compliance with section forty-nine of this article, to such\nlivery operator or the livery operator's designated agent prior to the\ntime of leasing, hiring or renting such vessel;\n (e) such livery operator or his designated agent, at the time of such\nleasing, hiring or renting, records the name, address and age of the\nuser of the leased, hired or rented vessel, and the model, year, name of\nmanufacturer, and state registration or federal documentation numbers of\nthe leased, hired or rented vessel. Such records shall be maintained for\na period of not less than one year; and\n * (f) notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (d) of this\nsubdivision and subdivision one-a of section forty-nine of this article,\na person over eighteen years of age may operate such personal watercraft\nor specialty prop-craft without the certificate required pursuant to\nsection forty-nine of this article when such operation is restricted by\nthe operator of such livery, or the livery operator's designated agent,\nto a specified area, no part of which shall be more than twenty-five\nhundred feet from the livery location, or, if removed from the livery\nlocation, not more than five hundred feet from the livery operator or\nagent assigned by the livery operator to supervise such operation and\nsuch personal watercraft or specialty propcraft and/or the personal\nflotation device of the operator is clearly marked in such a manner as\nto be distinguishable by the operator of such livery or the livery\noperator's designated agent within the permitted areas of operation.\n * NB Repealed January 1, 2027\n 3. Penalties for violation. (a) Every person convicted of a violation\nof this section, other than a conviction for a violation of subdivision\ntwo of this section, shall for a first conviction thereof be punished by\na fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars;\nfor a conviction of a second violation, both of which were committed\nwithin a period of twenty-four months, such person shall be punished by\na fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than four hundred\ndollars; upon a conviction of a third or subsequent violation, all of\nwhich were committed within a period of twenty-four months, such person\nshall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor\nmore than five hundred dollars and the revocation of the registration of\nthe personal watercraft.\n (b) Every person convicted of a violation of subdivision two of this\nsection shall for a first conviction thereof be punished by a fine of\nnot less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars; for\na conviction of a second violation, both of which were committed within\na period of twenty-four months, such person shall be punished by a fine\nof not less than two hundred dollars nor more than four hundred dollars;\nupon a conviction of a third or subsequent violation, all of which were\ncommitted within a period of twenty-four months, such person shall be\npunished by a fine of not less than four hundred dollars nor more than\neight hundred dollars.\n