Chapter 30

30.63 History History: 1973 c. 125; 1989 a. 56.

30.635 30.635 Motorboat prohibition. On lakes 50 acres or less having public access, motorboats may not be operated in excess of slow-no-wake speed, except when such lakes serve as thoroughfares between 2 or more navigable lakes. The department by rule may modify or waive the requirements of this section as to particular lakes, if it finds that public safety is not impaired by such modification or waiver.

30.635 History History: 1973 c. 302; Stats. 1973 s. 30.63; 1973 c. 336; Stats. 1973 s. 30.635.

30.635 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ss. NR 5.20 and 5.21, Wis. adm. code.

30.64 30.64 Patrol boats.

30.64(1) (1) The operator of a patrol boat, including a commission warden, as defined in s. 939.22 (5), when responding to an emergency call or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, need not comply with this subchapter or ordinances under s. 30.77 when a siren or emergency light is activated or, if the patrol boat is equipped with a siren and an emergency light, when both the siren and emergency light are activated, and if due regard is given to the safety of other persons in the vicinity. If an emergency light is used, it shall be of a type and design specified under 33 CFR 88.11 or 88.12.

30.64(2) (2) Upon the approach of a patrol boat, including a patrol boat operated by a commission warden, as defined in s. 939.22 (5), giving an audio or visual signal, the operator of a boat shall reduce the boat speed to slow-no-wake and yield the right-of-way to the patrol boat until it has passed.

30.64(3) (3) No person operating a boat may refuse to stop after being requested or signaled to do so by a law enforcement officer or a commission warden, as defined in s. 939.22 (5).

30.64 History History: 1979 c. 275; 1993 a. 167; 2005 a. 308; 2007 a. 27.

30.65 30.65 Traffic rules.

30.65(1) (1) Meeting; overtaking; right-of-way. Every person operating a boat shall comply with the following traffic rules, except when deviation therefrom is necessary to comply with federal pilot rules while operating on the navigable waters of the United States:

30.65(1)(a) (a) When 2 motorboats are approaching each other “head and head,” or so nearly so as to involve risk of collision, each boat shall bear to the right and pass the other boat on its left side.

30.65(1)(b) (b) When 2 motorboats are approaching each other obliquely or at right angles, the boat which has the other on her right shall yield the right-of-way to the other. “Right” means from dead ahead, clockwise to 2 points abaft the starboard beam.

30.65(1)(d) (d) When a motorboat and a boat propelled entirely by sail or muscular power are proceeding in such a direction as to involve risk of collision, the motorboat shall yield the right-of-way to the other boat.

30.65(1)(e) (e) A boat may overtake and pass another boat on either side if it can be done with safety but the boat doing the overtaking shall yield the right-of-way to the boat being overtaken, notwithstanding any other rule in this section to the contrary.

30.65(1)(f) (f) A boat granted the right-of-way by this section shall maintain her course and speed, unless to do so would probably result in a collision.

30.65(2) (2) Additional traffic rules. The department may promulgate such additional traffic rules as it deems necessary in the interest of public safety. Such rules shall conform as nearly as possible to the federal pilot rules.

30.65 History History: 1985 a. 332 s. 251 (1); 1993 a. 490.

30.66 30.66 Speed restrictions.

30.66(1) (1) Speed to be reasonable and prudent. No person shall operate a motorboat at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard for the actual and potential hazards then existing. The speed of a motorboat shall be so controlled as to avoid colliding with any object lawfully in or on the water or with any person, boat or other conveyance in or on the water in compliance with legal requirements and exercising due care.

30.66(2) (2) Fixed limits. In addition to complying with sub. (1), no person may operate a motorboat at a speed in excess of the posted notice as established by regulatory markers.

30.66(3) (3) Prohibited operation.

30.66(3)(a) (a) No person may operate a motorboat within 100 feet of any dock, raft, pier, or buoyed restricted area on any lake at a speed in excess of slow-no-wake.

30.66(3)(ag) (ag)

30.66(3)(ag)1. 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., no person may operate a motorboat, other than a personal watercraft, at a speed in excess of slow-no-wake within 100 feet of the shoreline of any lake.

30.66(3)(ag)2. 2. In its ordinances enacted under s. 30.77, a city, village, town, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, or a town sanitary district may provide an exemption from the prohibition in subd. 1. or may substitute a lesser number of feet.

30.66(3)(ag)3. 3. This paragraph does not affect any of the following:

30.66(3)(ag)3.a. a. The authority of a local governmental unit specified in subd. 2. to enact more restrictive ordinances under s. 30.77.

30.66(3)(ag)3.b. b. The authority of the Dane County board to enact more restrictive ordinances under s. 33.455 (3).

30.66(3)(ar) (ar) No person may operate a personal watercraft at a speed in excess of slow-no-wake within 200 feet of the shoreline of any lake.

30.66(3)(b) (b) No person may operate a personal watercraft at a speed in excess of slow-no-wake within 100 feet of any other boat.

30.66(3)(c) (c) Paragraphs (a) to (b) do not apply to pickup or drop areas that are marked with regulatory markers and that are open to operators of personal watercraft and to persons and motorboats engaged in water skiing or similar activity.

30.66 History History: 1973 c. 302; 1981 c. 303; 1991 a. 257; 1997 a. 198; 2009 a. 31.

30.66 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also s. NR 5.001, Wis. adm. code.

30.67 30.67 Accidents and accident reports.

30.67(1) (1) Duty to render aid. Insofar as the operator of a boat can do so without serious danger to the operator’s boat or to persons on board, the operator of a boat involved in a boating accident shall stop the operator’s boat and render to other persons affected thereby such assistance as may be practicable and necessary to save them from or minimize any danger caused by the accident. The operator shall give the operator’s name and address and identification of the operator’s boat to any person injured and to the owner of any property damaged in the accident.

30.67(2) (2) Duty to report.

30.67(2)(a) (a) If a boating accident results in death or injury to any person, the disappearance of any person from a boat under circumstances indicating death or injury, or property damage, every operator of a boat involved in an accident shall, without delay and by the quickest means available, give notice of the accident to a conservation warden or local law enforcement officer and shall file a written report with the department on the form prescribed by it. The department shall promulgate rules necessary to keep accident reporting requirements in conformity with rules adopted by the U.S. coast guard.

30.67(2)(b) (b) If the operator of a boat is physically incapable of making the report required by this subsection and there was another occupant in the boat at the time of the accident capable of making the report the other occupant shall make such report.

30.67(3) (3) Terms defined. In this section:

30.67(3)(a) (a) “Boating accident” means a collision, accident or other casualty involving a boat.

30.67(3)(b) (b) “Injury” means any injury of a physical nature resulting in medical treatment, disability for more than 24 hours or loss of consciousness.

30.67(3)(c) (c) “Total property damage” means the sum total cost of putting the property damaged in the condition it was in before the accident, if repair thereof is practical, and if not practical, the sum total cost of replacing the property.

30.67(4) (4) Reports confidential. No report required by this section to be filed with the department shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident, except that the department shall furnish upon demand of any person who has or claims to have made such a report, or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the department solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that such a report be made.

30.67(5) (5) Transmittal of information to federal and state authorities. If any request for information available on the basis of reports filed pursuant to this section is duly made by an authorized official or agency of the U.S. government or of the state which registered the boat involved or the state where the accident occurred, the department shall compile and furnish such information in accordance with such request.

30.67(6) (6) Coroners and medical examiners to report; require blood specimen.

30.67(6)(a) (a) Every coroner or medical examiner shall on or before the 10th day of each month report in writing to the department the death of any person within his or her jurisdiction during the preceding calendar month as the result of an accident involving a boat and the circumstances of the accident.

30.67(6)(b) (b) In cases of death involving a boat in which the person died within 6 hours of the time of the accident, a blood specimen of at least 10 cc. shall be withdrawn from the body of the decedent within 12 hours after his or her death, by the coroner or medical examiner or by a physician so designated by the coroner or medical examiner or by a qualified person at the direction of the physician. All funeral directors, as defined in s. 445.01 (5), shall obtain a release from the coroner or medical examiner prior to proceeding with embalming any body coming under the scope of this section. The blood so drawn shall be forwarded to a laboratory approved by the state health officer for analysis of the alcoholic content of the blood specimen. The coroner or medical examiner causing the blood to be withdrawn shall be notified of the results of each analysis made and shall forward the results of each analysis to the state health officer. The state health officer shall keep a record of all examinations to be used for statistical purposes only. The cumulative results of the examinations, without identifying the individuals involved, shall be disseminated and made public by the state health officer. The department shall reimburse coroners and medical examiners for the costs incurred in submitting reports and taking blood specimens and laboratories for the costs incurred in analyzing blood specimens under this section.

30.67 History History: 1973 c. 302; 1979 c. 275; 1989 a. 359; 1991 a. 316; 2005 a. 266.

30.67 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also s. NR 5.08, Wis. adm. code.

30.675 30.675 Distress signal flag. The display on a boat or by a person of an orange flag approximately 18 by 30 inches in size shall indicate that such boat or person is in need of help.

30.675(1) (1) Insofar as is possible without serious danger to the operator’s boat or persons on board, the operator of a boat observing a distress signal shall render to the boat or person displaying the signal such assistance as may be practicable and necessary to save the boat or person or to minimize any danger to them.

30.675(2) (2) No person shall display a flag like that described in sub. (1) unless such person is in need of assistance to prevent bodily injury or destruction of property.

30.675 History History: 1991 a. 316.

30.678 30.678 Boating safety certificates; requirements; exemptions; operation by minors.

30.678(1) (1) Motorboats other than personal watercraft.

30.678(1)(a) (a) No person under 10 years of age may operate a motorboat.

30.678(1)(b) (b) No person who is at least 10 years of age but under 12 years of age may operate a motorboat unless he or she is accompanied in the motorboat by a parent or guardian or by a person who is at least 18 years of age and who is designated by a parent or guardian and the parent, guardian, or designated adult holds a valid boating safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c) or was born before January 1, 1989.

30.678(1)(c) (c) No person who is at least 12 years of age but under 16 years of age may operate a motorboat unless one of the following applies:

30.678(1)(c)1. 1. The person holds a valid boating safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c).

30.678(1)(c)2. 2. The person is accompanied in the motorboat by a parent or guardian or by a person who is at least 18 years of age and who is designated by a parent or guardian and the parent, guardian, or designated adult holds a valid boating safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c) or was born before January 1, 1989.

30.678(1)(d) (d) No person who was born on or after January 1, 1989, and who is 16 years of age or older may operate a motorboat unless one of the following applies:

30.678(1)(d)1. 1. The person holds a valid boating safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c).

30.678(1)(d)2. 2. The person is accompanied in the motorboat by another person who is at least 18 years of age and that person holds a valid boating safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c) or was born before January 1, 1989.

30.678(1)(e) (e) Paragraphs (a) to (d) do not apply to the operation of a personal watercraft.

30.678(2) (2) Personal watercraft.

30.678(2)(a) (a) No person under 12 years of age may operate a personal watercraft.

30.678(2)(b) (b) No person who is 12 years of age or older but under 16 years of age may operate a personal watercraft unless he or she is in possession of a valid certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c).

30.678(2)(c) (c) No person who was born on or after January 1, 1989, and who is 16 years of age or older may operate a personal watercraft unless the person holds a valid safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) or a valid boating safety certificate that is honored under s. 30.74 (1) (c).

30.678(2m) (2m) Proof of certificate. Any person who is required to hold a safety certificate issued under s. 30.74 (1) (a) while operating a motorboat shall carry proof that the person holds a valid safety certificate and shall display such proof to a law enforcement officer on request.

30.678(3) (3) Exemption. Subsections (1) (b), (c), and (d) and (2) (b) and (c) do not apply to a person while the person is operating a motorboat as may be required as part of a boating safety course under s. 30.74 (1).

30.678(4) (4) Parent and guardian liability. A violation of sub. (1) (a), (b), (c), or (d) or (2) (a), (b), or (c) that is done with the knowledge of a parent or guardian shall be considered a violation by the parent or guardian and shall be punishable under s. 30.80.

30.678 History History: 2005 a. 356 ss. 1m to 3, 7, 9, 10; 2015 a. 89; 2019 a. 115.

30.678 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also s. NR 5.16, Wis. adm. code.

30.68 30.68 Prohibited operation.

30.68(2) (2) Negligent operation. No person may operate or use any boat, or manipulate any water skis, aquaplane or similar device upon the waters of this state in a careless, negligent or reckless manner so as to endanger that person’s life, property or person or the life, property or person of another.

30.68(3) (3) Operation by incapacitated person. No person in charge or control of a boat shall authorize or knowingly permit the boat to be operated by any person who by reason of physical or mental disability is incapable of operating such boat under the prevailing circumstances.

30.68(4) (4) Creating hazardous wake or wash.

30.68(4)(a) (a) No person shall operate a motorboat so as to approach or pass another boat in such a manner as to create a hazardous wake or wash.

30.68(4)(b) (b) An operator of a motorboat is liable for any damage caused to the person or property of another by the wake or wash from such motorboat unless the negligence of such other person was the primary cause of the damage.

30.68(4m) (4m) Facing backwards. No person may operate a personal watercraft while facing backwards.

30.68(5) (5) Operating in circular course. No person may operate a motorboat repeatedly in a circuitous course around any other boat, or around any person who is swimming, if such circuitous course is within 200 feet of such boat or swimmer; nor shall any boat or water skier operate or approach closer than 100 feet to any skin diver’s flag or any swimmer unless the boat is part of the skin diving operation or is accompanying the swimmer, or unless physical conditions make compliance impossible.

30.68(5m) (5m) Towing by a personal watercraft. A person may use a personal watercraft to tow a stranded or disabled boat if, during towing, the speed of the personal watercraft does not exceed slow-no-wake.

30.68(6) (6) Riding on decks and gunwales. No person operating a motorboat may ride or sit, or may allow any other person in the motorboat to ride or sit, on the gunwales, tops of seat backs or sides or on the decking over the bow of the boat in an unsafe manner while under way, unless such person is inboard of guards or railings provided on the boat to prevent persons from being lost overboard. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit entry upon the decking over the bow of the boat for the purpose of anchoring, mooring or casting off or other necessary purpose.

30.68(7) (7) Restricted areas. No person shall operate a boat within a water area which has been clearly marked by buoys or some other distinguishing device as a bathing or swimming area; nor operate a boat in restricted use areas contrary to regulatory notice pursuant to s. 30.74 (2).

30.68(8) (8) Anchoring in traffic lanes. No person may anchor, place, affix or abandon any unattended boat, raft, float or similar structure in the traveled portion of any river or channel or in any traffic lane established and legally marked, so as to prevent, impede or interfere with the safe passage of any other boat through the same.

30.68(8m) (8m) Mooring.

30.68(8m)(a) (a) No person may use a mooring or attach a boat to a mooring buoy if the mooring or mooring buoy violates s. 30.772 or 30.773.

30.68(8m)(b) (b) No person may use a piling for mooring a boat, except for mooring a boat in Lake Michigan or Lake Superior or on the Mississippi River.