In this article 8 sections
Summer on California’s lakes, rivers, and coast usually means good things: a day on a friend’s boat, a rented jet ski, a kid learning to wakeboard. When something goes wrong on the water, though, it goes wrong fast. A collision with another boat, a passenger thrown overboard, a swimmer struck by a propeller, an operator who had a few too many.
If you were hurt, you probably have questions nobody on the dock can answer. Was the person driving the boat at fault, or the owner who lent it to them? Does it matter that the accident happened on the water instead of the road? Who reports it, and who pays?
California has a specific set of boating laws, mostly in the Harbors and Navigation Code, that help answer those questions. Here is how responsibility generally works, what has to happen after an accident, and the deadlines to keep in mind heading into the Fourth of July.
How Common Are Boating Accidents in California?
According to the California Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW), there were 479 recreational boating incidents in California in 2024, resulting in 214 injuries and 47 deaths (figures as of March 28, 2025).
Nationally, the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2024 Recreational Boating Statistics report found that where the cause of death was known, 76% of people killed in boating incidents drowned, and where life jacket use was known, 87% of those victims were not wearing one. The Coast Guard also identified alcohol use as the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating incidents, and listed operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, machinery failure, and navigation rules violations as the top five primary contributing factors in incidents.
Those causes matter, because most of them point to a person who was supposed to be paying attention.
The Operator: Negligent Operation and Boating Under the Influence
The person driving the boat is usually the first place responsibility lands. California’s rules for operators include:
- No reckless or negligent operation. Harbors and Navigation Code section 655(a) prohibits using a vessel, or manipulating water skis or similar devices, “in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.”
- No boating under the influence. Section 655(b) prohibits operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both. Section 655(c) makes it illegal to operate a recreational vessel with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more. For vessels other than recreational vessels, the limit is 0.04 percent under section 655(d).
- Life jackets for children. Under section 658.3(c), a person may not operate a recreational vessel underway with a child under 13 on board unless the child is wearing an appropriate Coast Guard-approved life jacket, or is below deck or in an enclosed cabin. Section 658.3(d) also requires people on personal watercraft (jet skis) and people being towed on water skis or similar devices to wear one, with narrow exceptions.
- A California Boater Card. Under section 678.11, the age-based phase-in of the boater card requirement ended on January 1, 2025. Since then, all persons, regardless of age, generally must carry a California Boater Card to operate a motorized vessel on state waters. There are exceptions, including for people operating a rental vessel, certain out-of-state visitors, and people operating under the direct supervision of a card-holding adult.
A violation of one of these rules does not automatically decide a civil case, but it is often powerful evidence that an operator failed to act with reasonable care. California’s general negligence rule, Civil Code section 1714(a), holds everyone responsible for injuries caused by their lack of ordinary care.
The Owner: When Lending Your Boat Means Sharing Responsibility
Many boating accidents involve someone driving a boat they do not own. Harbors and Navigation Code section 661 addresses that. The owner of an undocumented vessel numbered under the code is liable for death or injury caused by negligent operation by someone using the boat with the owner’s permission, express or implied. The operator’s negligence is imputed to the owner.
The statute presumes permission when the boat is under the control of the owner’s spouse, parent, sibling, child, or other immediate family member.
There is an important limit. Liability that rests only on this imputed negligence is capped at $10,000 for the death or injury of one person, $20,000 for more than one person in a single accident, and $10,000 for property damage. The statute states that it does not relieve anyone of liability they would otherwise have, so the caps generally should not limit claims based on the owner’s own negligence, for example by handing the keys to someone who was obviously intoxicated or by failing to maintain the boat, and they do not limit the operator’s own liability. In practice, identifying every responsible person, and every insurance policy, is a big part of these cases.
Other Parties Who May Share Responsibility
Depending on the facts, responsibility may also extend to:
- Rental companies and charter operators, for poorly maintained equipment, inadequate instruction, or renting to someone unfit to operate.
- Manufacturers, when a defect in a boat, engine, steering system, or life jacket contributed to the injury.
- Marinas and property owners, for dangerous docks, ramps, or walkways.
- Public agencies, when a government entity operated the boat, ran the marina, or controlled the waterway feature that caused harm.
What Has to Happen After a Boating Accident
Duty to stop, identify, and help
Under section 656(a), an operator involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty must give practicable and necessary assistance to people affected, as far as possible without serious danger to their own vessel, crew, and passengers. Under section 656.2, an operator who knows or has reason to know someone was injured must provide their name, address, the vessel’s registration number, and the owner’s name, and must render reasonable assistance to the injured person, including transportation for medical treatment if required or requested.
Reporting to the Division of Boating and Waterways
Section 656(d) requires the owner, operator, or other person on board to report accidents under DBW’s regulations. DBW’s Boating Accident Report form states that a written report is required when an accident results in death, disappearance, injury requiring medical attention beyond first aid, total property damage over $500, or complete loss of a vessel. Reports are due within 48 hours for a death within 24 hours, a disappearance, or an injury beyond first aid, and within 10 days for other reportable accidents.
Two details from section 656 are worth knowing if you were hurt. The report itself cannot be used as evidence of negligence at trial. But DBW must disclose the names and addresses of people involved and of witnesses, vessel registration numbers, and the date, time, and location to an injured person and others with a proper interest. That can help you identify who was involved.
Steps to protect yourself
- Get medical care right away, and tell providers how the accident happened.
- Photograph the boats, registration numbers, the scene, and your injuries.
- Collect names and contact information for the operator, the owner, passengers, and witnesses.
- Note whether alcohol was on board and whether law enforcement responded.
- Do not give a recorded statement to an insurer before you understand your rights. Our post on the insurance company’s first settlement offer explains why.
Federal Maritime Law Can Change the Rules
Boating cases sometimes have a twist that car accident cases do not. Accidents on waters considered navigable for federal purposes, such as coastal waters and some bays and rivers, may be governed in part by federal maritime law. Whether it applies is a technical question that depends on where and how the accident happened.
When it does, different rules can come into play. Federal law generally provides a three-year limitations period for personal injury claims arising from a maritime tort (46 U.S.C. section 30106). And under the federal Limitation of Liability Act, a vessel owner may file an action in federal court seeking to limit liability to the value of the vessel and pending freight, for claims arising without the owner’s “privity or knowledge.” The owner must bring that action within six months after a claimant gives written notice of a claim (46 U.S.C. section 30529). These provisions are complicated, and their application depends heavily on the facts.
Deadlines You Can’t Miss
For most injury claims under California law, Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 sets a two-year statute of limitations. Do not assume a longer federal period will apply to your case.
If a public agency is involved, such as a city-run marina, a county harbor patrol boat, or a state-operated facility, you generally must present a written government claim within six months of the injury under Government Code section 911.2 before you can sue. We explain that process in our post on government claims deadline traps.
Talk to Us Before the Season Gets Away From You
Boating accidents raise questions that do not come up in ordinary crash cases: who was legally operating, whether the owner’s liability is capped, whether federal law applies, and which agency report to request. Getting those answers early protects your options.
If you or someone you love was hurt on California waters, learn more about our boating accident practice or contact us for a free consultation. We will walk you through what happened and what comes next, and you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.