News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 28, 2005

Governor Pataki Approves Minimum Age Increase for Personal Watercraft Operators

Industry Applauds Increase in PWC Age Requirement to 14

The following statement can be attributed to Maureen Healey, Executive Director of PWIA

Contact:
Elinore Boeke, 202-737-9768
Brian Berry, 202-777-3524

WASHINGTON — “We applaud the New York Legislature and the Governor for approving this proposal.  By signing this legislation into law, Governor Pataki has taken a bold step to help ensure capable and mature boaters are at the helm on New York waterways.  Personal watercraft are a lot of fun to operate but they should be approached with the same respect and level of knowledge as other boats.  The personal watercraft industry thanks Senator Skelos and Assemblywoman Eddington for putting boating safety first and introducing this proposal to require that PWC operators have reached a certain level of maturity.”

About PWIA:  As the trade association representing PWC manufacturers in the U.S., PWIA advocates for states to adopt its model legislation for regulating PWC use.  PWIA’s model legislation (viewable at www.pwia.org) contains reasonable rules such as a minimum age of 16 to operate PWC, mandatory boating safety education for all PWC users, and establishing sunset curfews.  

New York AB1477/S4129 requires a boating safety certificate for the operation of personal watercraft by persons fourteen and over and prohibits operation by persons under fourteen years of age unless properly accompanied.