On The Water
ORC 1547.24 and 1547.11 — the child under ten, the vessel under eighteen feet, and the same eight hundredths
The watercraft chapter borrows two things from the road and changes a third. The alcohol figure is the one drivers know. The life jacket rule for children has an age and a boat length in it that nothing on the road has. And the jacket requirement for everyone else is about what is aboard rather than what is worn.
A child under ten, on a vessel under eighteen feet, wears the jacket. No person operates a vessel less than eighteen feet in length with a child under ten years of age aboard who is not wearing a properly fitted personal flotation device approved by the coast guard, while the vessel is under way. Under way is the condition that matters: a boat drifting or moving is under way, and one at anchor or securely moored is not.
For everyone else, the rule is what is aboard. Every personal flotation device carried aboard is coast guard approved, in good and serviceable condition, of appropriate size for the wearer, readily accessible to each person aboard at all times, and used in accordance with its approval label. A wearable device for each person aboard is the floor, and a vessel of sixteen feet or more also carries a throwable one.
Eight hundredths, the same as the road. No person operates or is in physical control of a vessel while having a concentration of eight hundredths of one per cent or more by weight of alcohol per unit volume in whole blood, or while under the influence of alcohol or a drug of abuse. It is a misdemeanour of the first degree, and the sentence carries a jail term of at least three days.
| The rule | The figure |
|---|---|
| The ruleChild who must wear a jacket | The figureUnder ten |
| The ruleVessel that rule applies to | The figureLess than eighteen feet, while under way |
| The ruleThrowable device also required | The figureVessel of sixteen feet or more |
| The ruleAlcohol concentration | The figureEight hundredths of one per cent |
| The ruleDegree | The figureMisdemeanour of the first degree |
| The ruleJail term | The figureAt least three days |
Open containers and passengers drinking are a different question from the operator's concentration, and the chapter is about the operator. What is on the road as an implied consent rule has a counterpart on the water in its own section.
Boating education requirements, registration and numbering, the rules for personal watercraft, the implied consent section for vessels, the elevated concentrations and their higher penalties, and the exemptions for particular kinds of craft are each their own part of the chapter and are not on this page. The Division of Parks and Watercraft publishes the current rules, and what a particular citation carries is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 1547.24 — Children under ten, and the life jacket on a vessel under eighteen feet
- ORC 1547.11 — Operating a vessel under the influence
- ORC 1547.25 — Personal flotation devices aboard a vessel
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.