NYS Navigation Law

NYS Navigation Law - Vessels

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• Article 4 ›
• Section 47

  S 47. Leaving  the  scene  of  an accident without reporting. 1. (a)
  Whenever any vessel, including, but not limited to, rowboats, canoes and
  kayaks, meets with an accident involving damage to any vessel or to  the
  real  property  or  to  the personal property, not including animals, of
  another due to an  accident  involving  such  vessel  and  the  operator
  thereof  has  knowledge  of  such  accident, such operator shall, before
  leaving the place where the damage occurred, stop and give  his  or  her
  name  and  address,  the  name  and address of the owner thereof and the
  identification number, if any, assigned to such  vessel  to  the  person
  sustaining  the  damage.  In  the event the person sustaining the damage
  cannot be located at the place  where  the  damage  occurred,  then  the
  operator of such vessel shall report the same as soon as physically able
  to the nearest police officer, police station, bay constable or judicial
  officer.
    (b) A violation of the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision
  shall  constitute  a  violation  punishable  as  set  forth  in  section
  seventy-three-c of this article.
    2. (a) Every operator of a vessel,  including,  but  not  limited  to,
  rowboats,  canoes  and kayaks, who, knowing or having cause to know that
  personal injury has been caused to another person, or another person has
  disappeared under the water, due to an accident  involving  such  vessel
  shall,  before  leaving  the  place  where  the  said incident involving
  personal injury occurred, stop, give such operator's name  and  address,
  the  name and address of the owner of such vessel and the identification
  number, if any, assigned  to  such  vessel  to  the  injured  party,  if
  practical,  and shall report said accident as soon as physically able to
  the nearest police officer, police station, bay  constable  or  judicial
  officer.
    (b)  The  first  violation  of the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
  subdivision involving personal injury to another person resulting solely
  from the failure of a vessel operator to provide the name and address of
  the vessel owner and/or the identification number of  the  vessel  shall
  constitute  a  class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than
  two hundred fifty nor more than five hundred dollars in addition to  any
  other  penalties  provided by law. Any subsequent such violation after a
  conviction for such violation within  the  preceding  five  years  shall
  constitute  a  class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than
  five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars in addition to any other
  penalties provided by law. Any violation of the provisions of  paragraph
  (a)  of  this  subdivision,  other  than  the  mere  failure of a vessel
  operator to provide the name and address of the vessel owner and/or  the
  identification  number  of  the  vessel,  shall  constitute  a  class  A
  misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more
  than one thousand dollars in addition to any other penalties provided by
  law. Any such violation committed by a  person  after  such  person  has
  previously been convicted of such a violation shall constitute a class E
  felony, punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand nor more than
  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars in addition to any other penalties
  provided by law. Any violation of the provisions  of  paragraph  (a)  of
  this  subdivision,  other  than the mere failure of a vessel operator to
  provide  the  name  and  address  of  the  vessel   owner   and/or   the
  identification  number  of the vessel where the personal injury involved
  (i) results in serious physical injury, as defined in section  10.00  of
  the  penal law, or where a person has disappeared under the water as the
  result of the incident shall constitute a class E felony or (ii) results
  in death shall constitute a class D felony.
    3. The provisions of  this  section  shall  not  apply  to  commercial
  vessels  having a valid marine document issued by the United States or a
  foreign government.

  S 47-a. Accidents; police authorities, bay constables and coroners to
  report. 1. Every police  officer,  bay  constable  or  judicial  officer
  receiving  information of an accident involving a vessel, including, but
  not limited to, rowboats and canoes, in  which  any  person  is  killed,
  injured  or disappears under the water shall immediately investigate the
  facts, or cause the same to be investigated, make a  written  memorandum
  of  the  information received, and such additional facts relating to the
  accident as may come to his or her knowledge, and mail the  same  within
  five  days  to  the commissioner and keep a record thereof in his or her
  office, provided, however, that the report of the accident  is  made  to
  the  police  officer, bay constable or judicial officer within five days
  after such accident. Every coroner, or other  official  performing  like
  functions, shall likewise make a report to the commissioner with respect
  to all deaths found to have been the result of vessel accidents.
    2.  Every  police officer, bay constable or judicial officer receiving
  information of an  accident  involving  a  vessel,  including,  but  not
  limited  to,  rowboats  and  canoes,  in  which  damage in excess of one
  thousand dollars to the property of any person is sustained shall make a
  written memorandum of the  information  received,  and  such  additional
  facts  relating to the accident as may come to his or her knowledge, and
  mail the same within five days to the commissioner  and  keep  a  record
  thereof in his or her office.
    3.  In accordance with any request duly made by an authorized official
  or agency of the United States, any information compiled by or otherwise
  available  to  the  commissioner  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be
  transmitted to such official or agency of the United States.

   S 47-b. Report  to  the  commissioner  required upon accident. Every
  person operating a vessel, including, but not limited to,  rowboats  and
  canoes,  upon  the navigable waters of the state, or on any other waters
  within the boundaries of the state, which is in any manner  involved  in
  an  accident, in which any person is killed, injured or disappears under
  the water, or in which  damage  to  the  property  of  any  one  person,
  including  himself  or  herself,  in  excess  of one thousand dollars is
  sustained shall, within five days after such accident, report the matter
  in writing to the commissioner. If the owner is  not  involved  in  such
  accident  or  is  incapacitated, the owner shall, within five days after
  learning of the facts  of  such  accident,  report  the  matter  to  the
  commissioner  together  with  such  information  as may have come to the
  owner's knowledge relating to such accident. Every such  operator  of  a
  vessel,  or  surviving participant in any such accident, or the owner of
  the vessel involved in any such accident,  shall  make  such  other  and
  additional  reports as the commissioner may require. A violation of this
  section shall constitute a violation punishable by a fine  of  not  less
  than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars. Nothing contained in
  this  section  shall  be  deemed  to supersede the provisions of section
  forty-seven of this article.

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