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Cal. HNC § 656.3

This is the official text of Cal. HNC § 656.3, part of California’s Harbors and Navigation Code — regulates ports, harbors, and boating.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

In addition to the requirements of Sections 656.1 and 656.2, the operator of any vessel involved in an accident in the waters of this state who knows or has reason to know that the accident resulted in the death or disappearance of any person shall, after fulfilling the requirements of this division, and if there is no peace officer at the scene of the accident to whom to furnish the information required by Section 656.2, without delay, report the accident to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the waterway or, if unknown, the sheriff of the county in which the accident occurred.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.