Anyone who grew up near the water on Long Island knows the feeling of a summer Saturday on the boat. You load the cooler at a marina in Freeport, head out past the bay houses, maybe raft up off Jones Beach or cross the Sound to a cove near Oyster Bay. It's the best of New York. And then, sometimes, it isn't. A tube rider gets clipped. Someone goes over the side in a wake that came out of nowhere. A party boat lurches and a guest falls down the companionway stairs. A personal watercraft cuts across a bow.
When that happens, families are often left with questions nobody on the dock can answer. Whose insurance pays? Does no-fault cover a boat? Can you sue a friend? Is this even a New York case, or a federal one? This guide is written for those families. If you're looking for a boating accident lawyer in New York, it will help you understand what kind of claim you have, and which deadlines are already running.
How boating injuries actually happen
Boating cases rarely look like car crashes. The most common situations we hear about involve:
- Collisions between boats, or with docks, channel markers and jetties, often at dusk or in fog
- Wake injuries, when a large boat passes too fast and too close and throws passengers on a smaller vessel off their feet
- Falls overboard from a sudden turn, rough water or an unsecured gate
- Propeller strikes to swimmers or people boarding from the water
- Towing accidents involving tubes, water skis and wakeboards
- Personal watercraft crashes, where inexperienced riders and high speed are a bad mix
- Falls on deck or below deck, on wet, slippery or poorly lit surfaces, especially on charter, fishing and party boats
- Carbon monoxide exposure near the stern or in enclosed cabins
- Fuel fires and explosions, often at the dock right after fueling
Alcohol shows up in a large share of serious recreational boating accidents. The U.S. Coast Guard tracks this in its annual recreational boating statistics, and it consistently lists alcohol as a leading known factor in fatal accidents.
Who can be responsible
The operator
Like a driver, the person at the helm must use reasonable care: a safe speed for the conditions, a proper lookout, the right-of-way rules, and no boating while impaired. New York makes it a crime to operate a vessel while intoxicated, with the same 0.08 blood alcohol threshold used for cars, under Navigation Law § 49-a.
The owner, even if they weren't driving
This surprises a lot of people. Under Navigation Law § 48, the owner of a vessel can be held responsible for injuries caused by the negligence of anyone operating it with the owner's permission. So if a boat owner hands the keys to a friend who then causes a crash, the owner, and the owner's insurance, can be on the hook.
Charter companies, rental outfits and marinas
A business that rents boats or jet skis, runs fishing charters or party cruises, or operates a marina owes its customers reasonable care. That includes maintaining the equipment, briefing renters on safety, not renting to someone who's visibly drunk, and keeping docks, ramps and gangways safe.
Manufacturers
Defective steering, throttles that stick, fuel systems that leak and kill switches that fail can all lead to a product liability claim against the company that made or sold the part.
What changed in 2025: every operator needs a safety certificate
Under "Brianna's Law," named for an 11-year-old girl who died in a boating accident in 2005, New York phased in a boating safety course requirement over several years. Since January 1, 2025, every operator of a motorized vessel in New York, regardless of age, must hold a boating safety certificate, with limited exceptions. State Parks explains the rules on its boating page.
Why does that matter in an injury case? An operator who never took the course, or a rental company that let an uncertified person take a boat out, may have a harder time arguing they acted reasonably. It's one more piece of evidence we look for.
Whose insurance pays? Not no-fault
New York's no-fault system covers motor vehicles. It does not cover boats or personal watercraft. That means:
- Your medical bills go first to your own health insurance, and the claim against the responsible party is how you recover the rest.
- There's no "serious injury" threshold like there is for car accidents. You don't have to prove a specific category of injury to seek pain and suffering in a boating case.
- The coverage that matters is the boat owner's policy (a boat or yacht policy, or sometimes a homeowner's policy for small boats), a charter company's commercial policy, and possibly umbrella coverage.
Homeowner's policies often exclude boats above a certain size or horsepower, so identifying the right policy early is part of the work. We ask for the boat's registration and the owner's insurance information in the first days of a case.
State law or federal maritime law?
Here's the part that makes boating cases different. Many of New York's waters, including Long Island Sound, the bays along the South Shore, New York Harbor and the Hudson, are "navigable waters," where federal maritime (admiralty) law can apply to an accident. Whether it does depends on where it happened and what kind of activity was involved. In practice, it can change:
- The deadline to sue. Maritime personal injury claims generally have a three-year limitations period under federal law. That's similar to New York's general rule, but other deadlines can be much shorter (see below).
- Comparative fault. Both maritime law and New York use pure comparative fault, so a partly-at-fault passenger can still recover a reduced amount.
- The owner's right to limit liability. Under the federal Limitation of Liability Act, a vessel owner can go to federal court and ask to cap their liability at the value of the boat after the accident, if the owner didn't know about the negligence that caused it. Owners must generally file within six months of receiving written notice of a claim. Once they do, other lawsuits can be put on hold. A wrecked $20,000 boat can't be the ceiling on a catastrophic injury, so fighting a limitation petition is often central to a serious case.
The deadlines that sneak up on families
| Situation | Deadline to watch |
|---|---|
| Ordinary negligence claim (state law) | Generally 3 years from the accident |
| Maritime personal injury claim | Generally 3 years from the accident |
| Passenger on a ferry, dinner cruise or commercial vessel | The ticket may require written notice within as little as 6 months and a lawsuit within 1 year |
| Accident involving a town, county or state-run marina, ferry or boat | Notice of claim generally within 90 days |
| Wrongful death | Generally 2 years under New York law; maritime rules can differ |
The ticket rule catches people off guard. Commercial passenger vessels are allowed to print shorter deadlines in the fine print of the ticket or booking confirmation. Keep your ticket, your receipt and the booking email.
What to do after a boating accident
- Get medical care, and tell the doctor exactly how you were hurt. Near-drowning, head strikes and back injuries can be worse than they first seem.
- Make sure the accident is reported. Accidents involving serious injury or death must be reported to authorities, and police, the Coast Guard, bay constables or State Parks may respond. Ask which agency took the report and get the report number.
- Write down the boat details: registration numbers (on the bow), names of the vessels, the operator's and owner's names, and the marina or charter company.
- Photograph everything: the boats, the damage, the deck, the conditions, any coolers or bottles on board, and your injuries.
- Get witness names. Other boaters, dock staff and passengers move on quickly.
- Save the paperwork: tickets, rental agreements, waivers you signed, and texts arranging the trip.
- Don't give a recorded statement to the boat owner's insurer before getting advice. Our guide to recorded statements explains why.
"But it was my friend's boat"
This is the hardest part for many of our clients. The person at the helm is often a friend, an in-law, or the host of the party. It helps to know that a claim like this is usually paid by the owner's insurance, not out of your friend's pocket. That's what boat insurance is for. Many people who were hesitant at first find that once they understand this, the decision becomes easier. We handle these cases with that relationship in mind.
What about the waiver I signed?
Rental companies and some charters ask customers to sign a release. Waivers aren't always enforceable. In New York, they generally can't excuse gross negligence, and some recreational businesses face statutory limits on using them. On navigable waters, federal law also restricts how far a commercial passenger vessel can limit its responsibility for injuries. Don't assume a waiver ends your case; let a lawyer read it.
Compensation in a boating case
Depending on the facts, an injured person may seek medical expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, and pain and suffering. A spouse may have a claim for loss of companionship. When a boating accident is fatal, the family may have a wrongful death claim. Our guide for families after a fatal accident explains how those claims work in New York. For drowning cases at pools rather than open water, see our article on swimming pool accidents.
Quick answers
Do I need to report a boating accident?
Accidents involving serious injury, death, a missing person or significant property damage generally have to be reported to authorities. When in doubt, report it and keep the report number.
Can a passenger be blamed?
Sometimes, for example a passenger who sat on the bow rail while underway. Under comparative fault, that reduces the recovery by the passenger's share of fault but doesn't eliminate it.
What if a jet ski hit me while I was swimming?
The operator, and potentially the owner and any rental company, may be responsible. Swimming areas and the distance boats must keep from swimmers are often regulated locally, which can help establish fault.
Talk to a boating accident lawyer who knows Long Island waters
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates represents people hurt on and around the water across Long Island, Queens and New York City, from the Great South Bay to the Sound. We move quickly to identify the owner's coverage, preserve evidence before boats are repaired or sold, and respond to any attempt to limit liability in federal court. Learn more about our Nassau County practice and our approach to premises and marina injuries.
We've recovered over $80 million for injured New Yorkers. The consultation is free, it can happen by video or at your home, and there's no fee unless we win.
Call 718.775.3110 or contact us online.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Whether state or federal law applies depends on the facts of each case. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney Advertising.