Senate Bill No. 333
(By Senators Brackenrich, Dittmar, Plymale and Anderson)
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[Introduced March 9, 1993; referred
to the Committee on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eighteen, article seven,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to care in
handling watercraft; duty to render aid after a collision,
accident or casualty; and accident reports.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eighteen, article seven, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT; MOTORBOATING; LITTER CONTROL.
§20-7-18. Care in handling watercraft; duty to render aid after
a collision, accident or casualty; accident reports.
(a) No person shall operate a motorboat or other vessel or
manipulate any water skis, surfboard or similar device in a
reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb or
property of any person.
(b) No person shall operate any motorboat or vessel ormanipulate any water skis, surfboard or similar device while
under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance as
defined in chapter sixty-a of this code, or while under the
combined influence of alcohol and a controlled substance as
defined in said chapter. A person shall be considered to be
under the influence of alcohol if he has an alcohol concentration
in his blood of ten one hundredths of one percent or more, by
weight.
(c) It shall be the duty of the operator of a vessel
involved in a collision, accident or other casualty, so far as he
can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, crew and
passengers (if any), to render to other persons affected by the
collision, accident or other casualty such assistance as may be
practicable and as may be necessary in order to save them from or
minimize any danger caused by the collision, accident or other
casualty, and also to give his name, address and identification
of his vessel in writing to any person injured and to the owner
of any property damaged in the collision, accident or other
casualty.
(d) The operator of a vessel involved in a collision,
accident or other casualty shall file an accident report with the
director if the incident results in a loss of life, in a personal
injury that requires medical treatment beyond first aid or in
excess of five hundred dollars damage to a vessel or other
property. The report shall be made on such forms and contain
such information as prescribed by the director. Upon a requestduly made by an authorized official or agency of the United
States, any information compiled or otherwise available to the
director pursuant to this subsection shall be transmitted to the
official or agency.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to define water sport
activities that are restricted while under the influence of
alcohol or a controlled substance and to revise existing accident
reporting requirements to conform with federal requirements.)
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