Florida Statutes

327.395



Effective Date October 1, 1996



Updated 2002



OVERVIEW

Anyone 21 years of age or younger is required to
either have successfully completed a National Association of State
Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) approved boating safety education
course or have passed a course equivalency or temporary certificate
examination and have in their possession a boating education ID
card and a photo identification card before operating a vessel with
a motor of 10 HP or more in Florida.  Identification cards
for persons completing the course or the equivalency exam are good
for a lifetime. Temporary Certificate exams are made available to
the public through contractors.
The temporary certificate is valid for a period of 12 months from
the issue date.

The law does provide for some exemptions to the
boating education requirements. The following are exempted from
the requirements of boater education:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC) must ensure that boating education courses and examinations
are available in each county of the state. To supplement the many
courses offered by the U.S. Coast
Guard Auxiliary and the U.S.
Power Squadrons, and others, the FWC also offers the "How to
Boat Smart" correspondence course. This course has a test in the
back of the book which can be completed and returned to the FWC
to be graded and scored. The test requires a 80% passing score.
A boater safety identification card will be issued to those successfully
completing the course. People who have completed a NASBLA and state-approved
course and wish to receive a boating safety education identification
card, may mail a copy of their certificate of successful completion
to:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission



Division of Law Enforcement



Boating Safety Section



620 South Meridian Street



Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1600

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and U.S. Power Squadron
course instructors can mail in a certified list of those people
successfully completing their course to this same address to have
boating safety education cards issued to their students. Cards are
processed at no cost by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission.

Vessel Liveries:



Persons affected by Florida's boating safety education law must
present a valid boating safety education identification card to
a livery when renting a vessel with 10 HP or more. Liveries must
also provide pre-ride boating safety instruction and display boating
safety information to all persons renting vessels.

Mandatory Education for Violators:
F.S. 327.731



Florida law requires that anyone convicted of two (2)
non-criminal boating safety infractions within a 12-month period
must enroll in, attend, and successfully complete any NASBLA/State
of Florida approved boater education course.  This course must
be completed following the date of the second violation, and proof
of completion must be filed with the Commission's Boating and Waterways
Section.  To "Attend" requires participation in a classroom
course.

Any person convicted of a boating infraction which
resulted in a reportable boating accident or convicted of any criminal
boating violation must enroll in, attend, and successfully complete
any NASBLA/State of Florida approved boating safety course and also
complete an approved safe boating course for violators.  Violator
courses require approximately 4 hours to complete and is currently
available through a State of Florida approved on-line program.

A violator's privilege to operate a vessel in Florida
is suspended until proof of course completion is filed with FWC.

Another provision of the law provides that all civil
penalties collected for boating violations are to be deposited into
the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund to be used for boating
safety education purposes.