No. HB 1447
Filed under Transportation.
Boating Safety; Revises conditions upon which DHSMV must include certain symbol on ID cards & driver licenses; requires DHSMV to issue ID cards & driver licenses that include certain symbol without charging specified fee; requires that ID card & driver license applications indicate whether applicant has obtained FL boating safety ID card &, if so, that copy of card be submitted with application; requires courts to order mandatory placement of ignition interlock devices upon certain vehicles & vessels; provides mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for BUI manslaughter; revises substance abuse education, evaluation, & treatment requirements for certain persons; requires person convicted of certain BUI violations to maintain specified insurance policy; requires that all persons, rather than only persons born on or after specified date, have specified ID in their possession while operating vessel; revises required components of FWCC's boating safety education course & temporary certificate examination; revises & provides various penalties relating to vessels.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDBoating-under-the-influence penalties rise across the board. Ignition interlock devices become mandatory for repeat convictions, offenders must carry high vessel liability insurance, and treatment providers face new licensing gatekeeping before they can serve BUI defendants.
A navigation-rule violation that seriously injures or kills someone becomes a felony instead of a misdemeanor. Refusing a breath or urine test now suspends boating privileges for a year or more, replacing a flat $500 fine.
A mandatory 4-year minimum sentence for willfully fleeing a fatal accident now applies only if the person was also intoxicated, where current law applies it regardless. Every vessel operator, not just those born after 1988, must carry safety-course proof aboard starting mid-2028.
Getting a lifetime-boater-safety symbol on a driver license or ID card becomes free instead of costing $1, and license applications must now disclose any Florida boating safety card the applicant holds.
AIA vessel operator who violates a navigation rule and causes a serious injury or death, without operating recklessly, is now guilty of a third-degree felony. Current law punishes the same conduct as only a second-degree misdemeanor.
AICurrent law imposes a mandatory 4-year minimum sentence on anyone who willfully leaves the scene of a fatal boating accident. The bill adds a new condition: that mandatory minimum now applies only if the person was also boating under the influence at the time.
AIFor a third BUI conviction, the court must order an ignition interlock device installed, at the offender's own expense, on every vehicle and vessel they own or routinely operate, for at least 2 continuous years.
AIA person convicted of BUI plus another criminal violation within 12 months must maintain vessel liability insurance of at least $100,000 for injury or death and $50,000 for property damage. Operating without it is a separate misdemeanor.
AIRefusing a breath or urine test previously triggered a flat $500 civil penalty. It now suspends the person's privilege to operate a vessel for 1 year, or 18 months for a repeat refusal or a prior suspension.
AILeaving the scene of a boating accident that causes only property damage is upgraded from a second-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor, raising the maximum jail time and fine for that offense.
AICurrently only people born on or after January 1, 1988 must carry boating safety proof aboard a vessel with a 10-horsepower-plus motor. Starting July 1, 2028, every operator of such a vessel must carry it, regardless of age.
AIGetting a lifetime-boater-safety symbol added to a driver license or ID card currently costs $1 as part of a bundle with hunting and fishing license symbols. The department must now add it at no charge upon presentation of the boating card.