The Minimum Age to Operate a Jetski in Florida Is 14 and Other Rules

The minimum age to operate a Jetski (a/k/a personal water craft or PWC) is 14. This is found in Florida Statute 327.39.

Some other rules are that the driver of the PWC must wear a life vest while operating the PWC. The driver must also employ a lanyard type engine cutoff switch. (Commonly referred to as a “kill switch”.) Also, a person cannot operate a PWC in Florida 30 minutes after sunset nor 30 minutes before sunrise.

Florida law also prohibits wake jumping, weaving through congested vessel traffic, and swerving at the last moment to avoid collision, etc.

For rented PWCs the rental company must comply with the educational requirements by providing information to the renter which takes into account the nature and operational characteristics of personal watercraft and general principles and regulations pertaining to boating safety. When the rental company fails to comply with the instructional rules and an injury occurs it potentially subjects the rental company to liability for the injuries of the JetSki renter. Jetski rental companies commonly have the renter sign a “waiver”. Many times this is done in a hurried manner and very little instruction is given to the renter. This is a problem when an inexperienced rider is injured—or causes injury to another rider—because of poor instruction on use of the JetSki.

We have successfully handled JetSki injury cases for 25 years.

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