A. It shall be unlawful to rent a motorboat to any person unless the provisions of this chapter have been complied with. It shall be the duty of persons renting motorboats to equip them as required by this chapter.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 29.1-736

  • Motorboat: means any vessel propelled by machinery whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion. See Virginia Code 29.1-700
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Personal watercraft: means a motorboat less than sixteen feet in length which uses an inboard motor powering a jet pump, as its primary motive power and which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside, the vessel. See Virginia Code 29.1-700

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to regularly offer a boat or boats, other than a motorboat, for rent for use on the public waters of the Commonwealth unless such person provides, for the use of each passenger in the boat, a life preserver of the sort prescribed by the regulations of the Board.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person, without first successfully completing a basic boating safety education course approved by the Director, to rent a personal watercraft to another person.

1960, c. 500, § 62-174.8; 1962, c. 626; 1968, c. 659, § 62.1-174; 1987, c. 488; 1998, c. 515.