Changes in Texas boating laws mean increasing numbers of the state’s million-plus recreational boaters will be required to take an approved boater education course, reports the Houston Chronicle. With the changes, Texas joins a growing number of states that have imposed boater education requirements on large numbers of recreational boaters.

Under the adopted changes, persons born on or after Sept. 1, 1993, who are operating a personal watercraft (a boat powered by a motor of more than 15-horsepower or a wind-blown vessel measuring more than 14 feet) must have passed a state-approved boater education course and carry identification and proof of having passed the boater education course while operating those boats.

Those falling under the new law have several options–a traditional classroom course, a home-study course, and an online boater education course–for meeting the requirement that they take and pass a course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.

All versions of the course cover basic boating laws, boating safety and boat handling.

Violation of the boater education requirement is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a potential penalty as much as a $500 fine.

Those charged with violating the boater education requirement can petition the court for a 90-day grace period during which, if the person successfully completes the course, the charges will be dismissed.

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Have you or someone you know been injured in a Texas boat accident?

The Texas personal injury lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.

It’s never safe or legal to boat while under the influence of alcohol, but boaters around Houston, Texas, should be especially careful with their alcohol intake this Memorial Day weekend, as The Houston Police Department says it will have extra patrol on the water.

The HPD says its officers will make contact with as many boaters as possible to check to see if skippers have been drinking. They’ll also be looking for equipment and operational violations.

Here are some HPD-provided boating guidelines to keep you and your passengers safe and within the law this weekend and every weekend:

• Have enough personal floatation devices for everyone on board, and wear them.

• Children under 13 years of age must wear a personal floatation device at all times when the boat is moving.

• If you are going to drink, don’t drive. Have a designated skipper for the boat.

• Personal watercraft need to obey the 50-foot rule and slow down to headway speed anytime they are within 50 feet of an object.

• Watch out for other boaters and slow down.

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Have you or someone you know been injured in a Texas boat accident? The Texas accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.

As of now the cause of the accident is still under investigation, and there is no reason to assume that driver inattentiveness or impairment were partially to blame. It does, however, bring to light the fact that while distracted driving of automobiles has become a nation wide safety issue, distracted or impaired driving of other vehicles or boats is just as dangerous.

The US Coast Guard reported 2,815 boating accidents in 2009. The number one cause of these accidents was driver inattention. Also among the list of causes were: operator inexperience, excessive speed, alcohol impairment, and following the“rules of the road”. These are the same factors that cause motor vehicle accidents every single day.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is working hard to end distracted driving on our nation’s roadways. However, there is very little focus being devoted to distracted driving of other vehicles or boats.

Distracted driving comes in many forms and the things that distract us while driving an automobile can also distract us while operating a boat or other type of vehicle. These distractions can include talking on a cell phone, texting, adjusting the GPS, eating, drinking, applying makeup, and even smoking can take a drivers eyes off the road, or water, for even a second. This is all the time it takes for a serious accident to occur.

We don’t know if distraction played a role in the afore mentioned boating accident. But we do know that a young boy has lost his mother in what was most likely an avoidable tragedy and unfortunately it sometimes takes a lost life like this to create greater awareness of the huge responsibility we take when we get behind the wheel of any type of vehicle.

A teen has died Friday after a Texas maritime accident, the Star-Telegram reported.

The Texas maritime accident happened at Joe Pool Lake when the girl was swimming out to meet some friends and became separated from her boogie board.

When her friends saw the Texas maritime accident victim disappear in the water, one of them went to shore for help.

The teen’s body was found about 75 yards from the shoreline.

Her father suspects that the 13-year-old Texas maritime accident victim became separated from her board after she was hit by the wake of a motorized sea craft.

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