Committee approves bill aligning PWC rules with reasonable-suspicion standard and updating accident reporting

Representative Fontenot described House Bill 756 as a bill that clarifies accident-reporting thresholds for personal watercraft, adds language requested by the Coast Guard regarding flotation devices and makes enforcement stops on the water subject to a Fourth Amendment reasonable-suspicion standard used in recent related bills.

Cole Garrett, general counsel for the department, said the bill contains language similar to a related Senate measure and that the department has worked with sponsors to align text. Senator Kleinpeter asked whether the bills are materially different; Garrett said differences are minimal and the sponsors indicated they would work together between committee and the floor to reconcile any remaining differences.

Committee members expressed support for setting parameters that balance boater safety and reasonable enforcement; the committee approved the bill without objection. The department said an HCR tracking boating fatalities may accompany the effort to gather better crash data.