Boat Rentals and safety courses

[Boat_captain]

Just a question about boat rentals on the Lake.
Do boat rental establishments require that renters show safety course completion?
To many times on the lake renters seem to be unaware of boating rules of the road and the bouy system.

[gtxrider]

It would seem to be the smart thing to require a certificate to rent a boat. Try renting a car from Hertz with out a drivers license. It seems all they look for is a valid credit card.

[NightWing]

Just a question about boat rentals on the Lake.
Do boat rental establishments require that renters show safety course completion?
To many times on the lake renters seem to be unaware of boating rules of the road and the bouy system.

Boating Education Program
14 Day Temporary Safe Boating Certificate

Under the provisions of New Hampshire RSA 270-D:14, a "14 Day Temporary Certificate" option will be made available whereby a boater who takes the test and passes it will be issued a boating safety certificate valid only in the State of New Hampshire and for only 14 days. In addition to the 14 Day Temporary Certificate, there are other more permanent options available that are NASBLA (National Association of State Boating Law Administrators) approved and recognized all over the country.

The 14-Day Temporary Certificate is only a short-term solution for your boating certification and it can only be used once. In order to participate in the 14 Day Temporary Certification, you can contact the New Hampshire Department of Safety at 1-888-254-2125 to find out where the closest location is to you or you can also determine where these locations are based on a sign at their location identifying them as a 14 Day Temporary Certificate Agent.

Individuals must be a minimum of 16 years of age to take the test and must get at least 80% to pass the test. If the individual fails, he or she will have the option to take another test at another date or elect to pursue one of the other options for certification. Individuals must provide picture identification at the time of the test.

If you have any further questions about the 14 Day Temporary Certification option, please call us at 1-888-254-2125.

Most boat rental dealers are agents for the temporary permit.

[Boat_captain]

"Most boat rental dealers are agents for the temporary permit."

By allowing dealers to issue the temporary permits seems to be placing safe boating in their hands. I do hope that rental boater do take the safety courses with rules of the road at the front.

Many times you see rental boats or even jet ski's violating basic laws on the water. I do believe that training for the temporary permits or even testing is in sufficient.

[Superfly]

My understanding concerning rentals, the owness is on the renter not the dealer. The dealer may ask about a certificate but they will rent to the person anyway. I've been told that dealers will not turn away the business because the next dealer will rent to that very same person. It's a boating safety certificate not a license.

Operating without a certificate is a second offense violation similar to the seat belt law. Marine Patrol needs to witness a violation before they can ask for a boating certificate. I've read the boating laws on line, I haven't seen anything about dealers renting without a certificate. Has anyone ever heard of a citation issued to a dealer?

[Misty Blue]

"Got a call from MP last year to assist a jet ski on the rocks at Stonedam I.

When I got there the PWC operator who had just (an hour before) received his temporary permit seemed a bit underqualified. He was Japanese, spoke no english, did not know where he was or who or where he rented the jet ski from.

I guess that if you throw enough yen at an "authroized agent" you get the boat.

Misty Blue.

[Skip]

"Got a call from MP last year to assist a jet ski on the rocks at Stonedam I.

When I got there the PWC operator who had just (an hour before) received his temporary permit seemed a bit underqualified. He was Japanese, spoke no english, did not know where he was or who or where he rented the jet ski from.

I guess that if you throw enough yen at an "authroized agent" you get the boat.

Misty Blue.

Misty Blue raises an interesting point. There is no legal requirement that a rental agent check or verify for a certificate before renting a boat. Logistically it would probably be prohibitive for a variety of reasons to allow every rental agent access to the State data bases to verify certificates or check for suspensions. Furthermore, the person that rents the vessel is not necessarily the operator.....Granny may be using her credit card to rent that jet-ski for little grandson Kenny on his 18th birthday....the rental agent really has no control over who is operating once the boat leaves the dock.

And then there are the (hopefully few) unscrupulous dealers that could easily grant the 14 day permit to someone not yet quite ready for prime time.

That said, the while the issuing dealer or rental agent has little criminal code liabilites to worry about here (except for falsifying permits) he always has a significant civil liability exposure!

[Belkin]

Of course the car rental agencies seem to have no trouble checking everyone's drivers license. Did you ever try to rent a car without a license? You are supposed to keep your certificate with you at all times while boating, so showing it to the rental agency (or obtaining a temporary certificate) should be no problem.