Several of the accidents and some of the fatal accidents listed on this site resulted from collisions between racing shells and motorboats or PWCs (Personal Water Craft). Rowing shells are largely at the mercy of these boats, which usually weigh hundreds of pounds and can exceed fifty or sixty miles/hour. Not all states have licensing requirements for motorboat or PWC operation and, contrary to common belief, rowers do not always have the right of way under maritime law.
Most states in the continental US now require mandatory educational training for boaters, although the requirements vary.[i] In Idaho, for example, the requirement only applies to PWCs (personal water crafts) and there is no minimum age requirement.[ii] In Massachusetts there is a minimum age of 12 for motorboat operators and a minimum age of 16 for PWC drivers.[iii] In Texas the requirement for boater training is for anyone born after September 1, 1993 who operates a PWC or motor boat over 15hp.[iv]
(On a personal note, our local fire department/rescue squad responded to an incident this past year in which a motorboat slammed into a pontoon boat at high speed. Four people were seriously injured on the pontoon boat: a man who later died from his injuries and two young children who were airlifted to trauma centers.[v] An ER nurse who heard the crash and immediately responded was credited with saving the life of one of the children. Racing shells have lower profiles than pontoon boats and rowers cannot assume that motor boat operators will always see them or take evasive action in time to avert collision.
Idaho, Maine, Pennsylvania, Utah and require boating education only for PWCs.[vii]
Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Virginia require education before operating some types of powerboats.[viii]
All the states, except Arizona, Idaho, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, require mandatory education for all powerboaters.[ix]
Seven states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia — also now have seasonal laws requiring PFDs and reflecting a growing awareness of cold water boating fatalities.
More complete information is available at the (www.NASBLA.Org) National Association for State Boating Law Administrators.
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[i] https://idash.nasbla.net/idashboards/viewer/?guestuser=guest&dashID=199&c=0
[ii] https://www.boat-ed.com/idaho/boating_law.html
[iii] https://www.mass.gov/service-details/massachusetts-boating-law-summary
[iv] https://tpwd.texas.gov/faq/warden/boatinglawfaq.phtml
[v] https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2020/09/old-forge-man-faces-charges-after-boat-accident-injures-4-including-2-children-critically.html
[vi] https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2097128113561/victim-in-fourth-lake-boating-accident-dies
[vii] NASBLA, op. cit.
[viii] ibid
[ix] ibid