When are you required to assist anyone injured in an accident if you are the boat operator?

Answer 1

If you are involved in an accident, you are required to assist the people in the other boat, if you can. it depends on the circumstances. You may be the one needing assistance.

Others not involved in the accident are not required to assist but if they do they are protected from lawsuits (if something goes wrong) by what is known as the Good Samaritan law.

Title 46 United States Code Section 2303 says:

"Sec. 2303. Duties related to marine casualty assistance and information -STATUTE-

(a) The master or individual in charge of a vessel involved in a marine casualty shall -

(1) render necessary assistance to each individual affected to save that affected individual from danger caused by the marine casualty, so far as the master or individual in charge can do so without serious danger to the master's or individual's vessel or to individuals on board; and

(2) give the master's or individual's name and address and identification of the vessel to the master or individual in charge of any other vessel involved in the casualty, to any individual injured, and to the owner of any property damaged. (b) An individual violating this section or a regulation prescribed under this section shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than 2 years. The vessel also is liable in rem to the United States Government for the fine.

(c) An individual complying with subsection (a) of this section or gratuitously and in good faith rendering assistance at the scene of a marine casualty without objection by an individual assisted, is not liable for damages as a result of rendering assistance or for an act or omission in providing or arranging salvage, towage, medical treatment, or other assistance when the individual acts as an ordinary, reasonable, and prudent individual would have acted under the circumstances."

For hundreds of years it has been an unwritten law of the sea that you always assist someone in distress. In today's environment this may mean only calling the Coast Guard. But in years past, without instant communication, failure to assist may have meant the loss of the vessel and the lives of the people on the boat. It can still mean that under some circumstances.