H.B. No. 1945
    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.