Know Georgia Boating Laws Before Heading Out to Water

Quick boating safety quiz: Do you think it is okay to jump the wake of another boat when you are less than 100 feet away or use your personal watercraft to splash someone sitting on a dock? Guess what, its not and in fact, both activities are illegal. If you thought otherwise, you should definitely make an effort to learn the boating "rules of the road." Last year, there were 116 boating incidents and 16 boating-incident related fatalities, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). Incidents can occur quickly, and the chance of one happening increase greatly if one or either boat operator is unfamiliar with or does not follow existing boating laws, or the "rules of the road," that govern lakes and rivers.

"Boat operators do not need a license to operate a boat and people over the age of 16 are not required by law to take a test to operate a vessel, " says WRD Lt. Col. Homer Bryson, Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement. "Therefore, it is extremely important for boat operators to take responsibility for educating themselves on boating safety and boating laws. Your efforts to learn boating laws could potentially save your life or the life of someone you know."

One of the most important "rules of the road" is the 100 foot law which includes all boats, not just personal watercraft (such as Jet Skis or Sea Doos), and requires boat operators to slow to idle speed when they are within 100 feet of docks, piers, bridges, shorelines or people in the water. The 100-foot law states, "No person shall operate any vessel or tow a person or persons on water skis, an aquaplane, a surfboard, or any similar device on the waters of this state at a speed greater than idle speed within 100 feet of any vessel which is moored, anchored, or adrift outside normal traffic channels, or any wharf, dock, pier, piling, bridge structure or abutment, person in the water, or shoreline adjacent to a full-time or part-time residence, public park, public beach, public swimming area, marina, restaurant, or other public use area."

This means that it is illegal to jump the wake of another boat within 100 feet and to "buzz" other boats, vessels cannot operate around or within 100 feet of another vessel faster than idle speed unless it is overtaking or meeting the other vessel in compliance with the rules of the road for boat operation and makes it illegal for boat operators to follow closely behind another vessel, jump the wake of another vessel, or change or reverse their course of direction in order to ride or jump in the wake of another vessel.

"People who operate boats and personal watercraft at dangerously high speeds, and zip into and out of coves and along shorelines where other vessels are anchored or where people are in the water are not only putting themselves and others at risk for serious accidents, but they also are breaking the law," says Lt. Col. Bryson.

Other "rules of the road" for boat operation include: