Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-4215

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-4215, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 63, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 63,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Negligent operation - Liability

Official statutory text

A. The owner of a vessel shall be liable for any injury or

damage occasioned by the negligent operation of such vessel, whether

such negligence consists of a violation of the provisions of the

statutes of this state, or the violation of any municipal ordinance,

or neglecting to observe such ordinary care and such operation as

the rules of the common law require. The owner shall not be liable,

however, unless such vessel is being used with his or her express or

implied consent. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to

relieve any other person from any liability which he or she would

otherwise have.

B. The owner of a vessel shall not be liable for any injury or

damage occasioned by the negligent operation of the vessel as

provided in subsection A of this section if:

1. The owner is engaged in the trade or business of renting or

leasing vessels;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 1686

2. The owner is in compliance with the Oklahoma Vessel and

Motor Registration Act, Section 4001 et seq. of this title;

3. The injury or damage occurred during a period of rental or

lease;

4. The owner did not knowingly permit or entrust the vessel to

be operated by a reckless or otherwise incompetent operator where

the owner knew or should have known that the injury or damage would

have occurred; and

5. The owner has:

a. briefed the renter of the vessel on the location of

fire extinguishers and life vests when applicable,

b. ensured there are enough life vests of the proper size

for every passenger on the boat,

c. presented guidelines to the renter for safely piloting

a vessel, and

d. executed a safety check on lighting, gasoline, oil,

and bilge water removal systems.

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.