
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991                   TAG: 9102130466
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Landmark News Service
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

SENATE OKS LIMITS ON JET SKIS

The familiar roar of jet skis at Smith Mountain Lake and all other state waters may become less common if a bill approved by the state Senate becomes law.

The Senate voted 37-0 Tuesday to regulate the use of the "personal watercraft." The House of Delegates last month approved a nearly identical version of the bill, sponsored by Del. Howard Copeland, D-Norfolk.

The bill will go to Gov. Douglas Wilder for his signature if the House, as expected, accepts a handful of amendments added in the Senate.

Under the measure:

People under age 14 could not operate jet skis or similar watercraft.

Anyone riding on a jet ski would have to wear a life jacket or other approved flotation device.

Jet skis would be banned on all waterways from sunset to sunrise.

A jet ski could not carry more passengers than allowed by its design.

Violations would carry a fine of up to $250.

The bill would exempt watercraft being used in U.S. Coast Guard approved "regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments or exhibitions." The Senate added an amendment that would make the measure effective as soon as the governor signs it.

Lt. Dennis Free, who supervises boat patrols in Virginia Beach, said that most restrictions in the bill already are contained in federal law or boat safety regulations. But having them within the state judicial system will make prosecution easier, he said.

At least two people were killed last year in jet ski accidents in Virginia Beach. One fell off a jet ski and was hit by another jet skier.

Flotation devices already are required by the Coast Guard and officers regularly issue summonses to those without them, Free said.

Also Tuesday, the Senate gave a handful of oceanfront homeowners more time to protect their property with bulkheads. Senators voted 35-1 for a House-passed bill extending an exemption to the state's Sand Dune Protection Act for Sandbridge Beach property owners whose homes are threatened by the sea.

Under a bill passed by the assembly in 1988, the exemption would have expired June 30. The bill passed by the Senate would extend the exemption to July 1, 1993.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY

by CNB