By Hightower H.B. No. 1945
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the definition and operation of personal watercraft.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 31.003(14), Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (14) "Personal watercraft" means a type of motorboat
1-7 <up to 10 feet in length,> which is specifically designed to be
1-8 operated by a person or persons sitting, standing, or kneeling on
1-9 the vessel rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or
1-10 standing inside the vessel.
1-11 SECTION 2. Section 31.106, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 31.106. Personal Watercraft. (a) No person shall
1-14 operate a personal watercraft in the following manner or under the
1-15 following circumstances:
1-16 (1) unless each person riding on or towed behind the
1-17 vessel is wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved Type I, II, III, or V
1-18 personal flotation device;
1-19 (2) if the vessel is equipped by the manufacturer with
1-20 a lanyard type engine cutoff switch, unless such lanyard is
1-21 attached to the person, clothing, or personal flotation device of
1-22 the operator as appropriate for the vessel involved;
1-23 (3) during the period between <the hours of one-half
2-1 hour after> sunset and <one-half hour before> sunrise;
2-2 (4) within 50 feet of any other vessel, person,
2-3 stationary platform or other object, or shore, except another
2-4 personal watercraft, or except at headway speed;
2-5 (5) if the operator is under 13 <12> years of age,
2-6 unless the operator:
2-7 (A) is accompanied by a person at least 17 <16>
2-8 years of age; or
2-9 (B) the operator has successfully completed a
2-10 boating safety course prescribed and approved by the department;
2-11 (6) if the personal watercraft is a motorboat, within
2-12 any area prohibited for operation of a motorboat by state law or
2-13 local rule or regulation;
2-14 (7) while towing water skis, an aquaplane, a
2-15 surfboard, a tube, or any other similar device, unless the towing
2-16 vessel is designed to carry on board a minimum of two persons;
2-17 (8) by jumping the wake of another vessel recklessly
2-18 or unnecessarily close to that vessel; or
2-19 (9) in a manner that requires the operator to swerve
2-20 at the last possible moment to avoid collision.
2-21 (b) The provisions of this section do not apply to
2-22 professional exhibitions or an officially sanctioned race,
2-23 tournament, or exhibition.
2-24 (c) Subsection (a)(4) of this section does not prohibit the
2-25 operation of personal watercraft on bodies of water less than 100
3-1 feet in width. <The provisions of Sections 31.064, 31.066, 31.067,
3-2 31.068, 31.069, and 31.071 of this code shall not apply to personal
3-3 watercraft.>
3-4 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-5 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.