Pier47 Marina, News and Events

Dear PWC Enthusiast,

We need to inform you of proposed legislation in Trenton which will significantly affect you, and the way you ride your personal watercraft.

Senate Bill 2233 will mandate that you and any passengers be required to wear helmets while riding. While this bill has yet to be introduced, it most likely will be in the next two weeks, unless you speak up now.

You know wearing a helmet while riding recreationally is bad for owners. There is simply no evidence such a law would ever outweigh the potential hazards it would create for watercraft owners. Indeed, while helmets are required on closed course professional PWC racing, recreational riding is a completely different situation.

On water, there are no lane markers and few traffic control devices. Thus, unlike a motorcycle rider, watercraft owners must be constantly observing traffic conditions from a 360 degree perspective.

A helmet potentially exacerbates the chance of neck or spine injuries should the wearer be thrown from a boat in a process called “bucketing.” Furthermore, there is no standard for marine protective headgear. Under S.2233, the Superintendent of the State Police would adopt a list of various rules and helmet specifications to further burden you, the tax payer. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the proposal carries stiff penalties for non-compliance.

New Jersey owners are required, rightfully so, to wear a personal flotation device while operating, yet this applies to no other boat types. We already practice common sense safety; adding a dubious requirement on PWC owners, which does not apply to all boaters implies personal watercraft owner harassment.

You can make a difference now. Please contact State Senator Stephen Sweeney, the sponsor of S.2233 and let him know you oppose this unsafe and unfair proposal. Ask that he strongly reconsider filing legislation so harmful to New Jersey personal watercraft owners. Senator Sweeney can be reached as follows.

Phone: 856-251-9801 Email: SenSweeney@njleg.org

It’s critical that you inform his office of your opposition, and ask that he not file S.2233. If he’s really interested in meaningful and proven boating safety practices, he should work to ensure solid boating safety education for all New Jersey boaters.

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