Who Goes First?

Unlike highways, there will rarely be traffic signs or signals to help you determine which boat has the right-of-way. Command of your boat will depend on your command of safe operating rules, courteous behavior, and good common sense.

While you will not be expected to quote all the rules and regulations, you are responsible for knowing those that apply to you and your PWC's operation. Other boaters have a right to assume that you know what you are doing and that you will do it properly. If you fail to observe the rules as a PWC operator, ignorance of the law will not be accepted as an excuse. The laws apply to all boaters including PWCs and need to be diligently observed. People will single out PWC operators. How a single PWC operator behaves influences how PWCs are perceived.

Legal requirements and regulations may vary from state to state, but there is a set of basic "rules of the road" which you must Know Before You Go in order to get you safely through situations you are likely to encounter.