a friend of mine told me we have a new law saying u gotta wear a life jacket while operating any hand operated motor...is that true
shaun

Quote from the LA Wildlife & Fisheries website

PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICES
Every person 16 years or younger on board a Class A(less than 16 feet) or Class 1(16 to less than 26 feet) motorboat or vessel shall wear a coast guard approved life jacket or life preserver while such outboard motorboat or vessel is underway.
The regulation becomes effective August 15, 2009. This law previously stated that children 12 and under were required to wear PFD's.

All persons onboard a Class A motorboat which is being propelled by a hand tiller outboard motor shall be required to wear a USCG approved Type I, II, III, or V personal flotation device while the motorboat is underway. A handtiller outboard is described as an outboard motor that has a tiller or steering arm attached to the outboard motor to facilitate steering and does not have any mechanical assist device which is rigidly attached to the boat and used in steering the vessel, including but not limited to mechanical, hydraulic, or electronic control systems. Hand tiller outboard motor shall not mean any type of electronic trolling motor.

So in short if your boat is longer than 16' and you are over 16 years of age then you do NOT have to wear a life jacket.

If your hull is LESS than 16' (Class-A) then the answer is yes everyone on board has to wear the LV. And the age was changed from 12 to 16 for kids having to wear it on Class-A (less than 16') and Class-1 (to 26').

dats cool...guess he didnt know what he was talkin bout...he said ANY1 on a mm had to wear 1...dats y i love me some MMT!!!
THANK YOU FELLAS! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

Yeah, what Poker said.

I got stopped in venice and the GW said all tiller motor operaters have to wear a life jacket.
I told him I have class 1 boat (18') and he said I still was required to where it under a new law.

I just shrug my shoulders and put it on.
and I was idleing waiting for the truck and trailer.
So you aint the only one.
And I was wearing the kill switch. always do.

Here in TX it was bad conditions and I was stopped by GW he asked since I was by myself to have my life jacket "out" but not on...

I think its a good idea if your by yourself to have some sort of flotation device I know a guy who was knocked out but survived b/c he had an auto inflating life vest on which saved his life. A boater came by and saw the man floating in the water a few hundred yards from the boat...

I chimed in about wearing my PFD in another thread but that was based on making choices. This big brother junk gets me a little mad.

I have a 9' inflatable dingy with a 5hp outboard. With me, the wife, dog and all her beach junk it goes about 5 mph wide open. Could not get on a plane to save its life but I need to wear a PFD from the "mother ship" to the beach.