HF 264

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to watercraft; modifying the requirements for 
  1.3             operating a personal watercraft; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1996, section 86B.313, subdivision 1. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 86B.313, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.] In addition to 
  1.9   requirements of other laws relating to watercraft, it is 
  1.10  unlawful to operate or to permit the operation of a personal 
  1.11  watercraft: 
  1.12     (1) without each person on board the personal watercraft 
  1.13  wearing a United States Coast Guard approved Type I, II, III, or 
  1.14  V personal flotation device; 
  1.15     (2) between sunset and 8:00 a.m.; 
  1.16     (3) within 100 250 feet of a shoreline, dock, swimmer, or 
  1.17  swimming diving raft or a moored, anchored, or nonmotorized 
  1.18  watercraft at greater than slow-no wake speed; 
  1.19     (4) while towing a person on water skis, a kneeboard, an 
  1.20  inflatable craft, or any other device unless: 
  1.21     (i) an observer is on board; or 
  1.22     (ii) the personal watercraft is equipped with 
  1.23  factory-installed or factory-specified accessory mirrors that 
  1.24  give the operator a wide field of vision to the rear; 
  1.25     (5) without the lanyard-type engine cutoff switch being 
  2.1   attached to the person, clothing, or personal flotation device 
  2.2   of the operator, if the personal watercraft is equipped by the 
  2.3   manufacturer with such a device; 
  2.4      (6) if any part of the spring-loaded throttle mechanism has 
  2.5   been removed, altered, or tampered with so as to interfere with 
  2.6   the return-to-idle system; 
  2.7      (7) to chase or harass wildlife; 
  2.8      (8) through emergent or floating vegetation at other than a 
  2.9   slow-no wake speed; 
  2.10     (9) in a manner that unreasonably or unnecessarily 
  2.11  endangers life, limb, or property, including weaving through 
  2.12  congested watercraft traffic, jumping the wake of another 
  2.13  watercraft within 100 feet of the other watercraft; or 
  2.14     (10) in any other manner that is not reasonable and prudent.