Relating to the use of personal flotation devices on personal watercraft

This bill relates to the use of personal flotation devices on personal watercraft. The bill requires all persons on board a personal watercraft to wear a personal flotation device. The bill provides an exception to the personal flotation device requirement when the person is at least years of age and the personal watercraft is traveling at miles per hour or less or is in a no-wake zone. Under current administrative rules, all operators and passengers of personal watercraft must wear a specified personal flotation device. A “personal watercraft” means a vessel, less than feet in length, which is propelled by a water jet pump or similar machinery as its primary source of motor propulsion and is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than being operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling inside the vessel. A person in violation of the personal flotation device requirement is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $30.