What to Do After a Boating Accident in Colorado

The first minutes after two boats collide on a reservoir decide more than people expect: who gets pulled from the water, what gets written down, and whether the facts of the crash survive until anyone asks about them. This post walks through what Colorado law requires of every operator at the scene, what to do in the days that follow, and how an injury claim against a careless boater takes shape. If someone else’s boat put you or your family in the hospital, a lawyer at Boesen Law in Denver can tell you where your claim stands.

The First Thing You Must Do After a Boating Accident

The first legal duty is simple: stop and help anyone who is hurt or in the water, as long as you can do it without putting your own boat and passengers in serious danger. Everything else comes after that. Here is the order that protects both the people involved and any claim that follows.

1. Stop the boat and account for everyone. Cut the throttle, count heads, and look for anyone who went overboard. A person in cold reservoir water can tire in minutes.
2. Help others, then call for help. Throw a flotation device or pull people aboard if it is safe. Call 911 and give your location by landmark, buoy, or cove. Do not risk a life to save a boat or gear.
3. Report a death or missing person right away. If anyone died or disappeared from a vessel, law enforcement must be told without delay, not days later.
4. Exchange information in writing. Every operator must give his or her name, address, and the boat’s registration number, plus the owner’s name and address if someone else owns the boat.
5. Photograph everything before it moves. Get the registration numbers on both hulls, the damage, the water conditions, and the faces of passengers and witnesses on nearby boats or the shore.
6. Get medical care the same day. Head, neck, and back injuries from a hull strike or a fall inside the boat often feel minor on adrenaline and much worse by the next morning.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife lists these same scene duties for every boat operator, and the ranger or deputy who responds will expect them. Once everyone is safe and on shore, the next job is the paperwork, and Boesen Law can take that weight off you so you can focus on getting better.

For answers to your questions, call:
(303) 999-9999

Reporting a Boating Accident in Colorado

Colorado treats a boat collision a lot like a car crash when it comes to paperwork. Under C.R.S. 33-13-109, operators involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty must render assistance, share their information, and report the event under the rules set by the Parks and Wildlife Commission.

• Who files. Each operator involved must file a written Boating Accident Report with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A passenger does not have to file, but your statement to the officer on scene still matters.
• When it is required. The report is due within five days when the incident causes a death or disappearance, an injury that needs medical treatment beyond first aid, or more than $2,000 in property damage or the complete loss of a boat.
• What goes in it. Expect to describe the time, place, weather, each operator and owner, anyone hurt, the damage, how it happened, and the names of witnesses.
• What happens if no one files. Skipping the report is a violation of state law, and it leaves a gap in the official record that an insurer will happily fill with its own version.

Keep a copy of every report you submit and ask the responding agency for its incident number. The CPW form and the officer’s report are often the first documents an insurance adjuster reads, so we review both early to catch mistakes before they harden into “facts.” If you were injured and are unsure what you already signed, call Boesen Law and we will look it over with you.

Boating Under the Influence and Other Operator Mistakes

Most boat crashes come down to the person at the helm, not the water or the weather. National data from the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2024 Recreational Boating Statistics show where things go wrong, and Colorado’s own numbers in that report are sobering: 44 reported incidents and 21 deaths on state waters in 2024.

Alcohol on the Water

Colorado’s vessel BUI statute, C.R.S. 33-13-108.1, sets the same 0.08 blood alcohol limit that applies on the road, and it also bans operating while impaired by drugs. Across the country, the Coast Guard lists alcohol as the leading known factor in fatal boating incidents, tied to 20 percent of deaths where the primary cause was known. Sun, wind, and engine vibration make a few beers hit harder on a boat than on a patio. When a drunk operator hurts someone, that conduct can also support a claim for punitive damages on top of ordinary compensation.

Inattention, Lookout, and Speed

The same Coast Guard report ranks operator inattention, improper lookout, and operator inexperience as the top three contributing factors in incidents nationwide, with excessive speed close behind. On a busy Saturday that looks like a driver towing a tuber while watching the skier instead of the bow, or a personal watercraft cutting across a wake near a no-wake buoy.

Each of these is a choice someone made, and choices are what injury claims are built on. Boesen Law gathers the evidence that shows which choice caused your injuries.

Where Colorado Boating Collisions Happen

Front Range reservoirs pack a lot of traffic into a small amount of water on summer weekends. Chatfield State Park south of Littleton and Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora sit on the edge of the Denver metro area, and both mix powerboats, sailboats, paddleboards, and swimmers. Horsetooth Reservoir outside Fort Collins draws wakeboard boats into narrow coves, and Lake Pueblo State Park sees long days and big crowds from spring through fall.

Where a crash happens shapes the claim in practical ways:

• Which agency responds. A state park ranger, a county sheriff’s marine unit, or a local police boat may write the report, and each keeps records differently.
• Which rules applied. Posted no-wake zones, swim-beach buoys, and park rules can show that an operator ignored a clear limit.
• Who else may share fault. A rental company that handed keys to an impaired customer, or an owner who let an unqualified friend drive, can be part of the claim under vicarious liability and related rules.

We know these waters, and we know how to find the ranger log, the rental agreement, and the park camera footage that most injured boaters never think to request.

Who Pays for Boating Accident Injuries

A boating injury claim is a negligence claim. You have to show the operator owed a duty of care, broke it, and caused your injuries. Colorado’s comparative negligence statute, C.R.S. 13-21-111, reduces your recovery by your own share of fault and bars it if your share is equal to or greater than the other side’s. That is why the insurer will ask whether you wore a life jacket or sat on the bow.

Money usually comes from a few places:

• The operator’s or owner’s boat policy. Many boat owners carry liability coverage, though Colorado does not require it the way it requires auto insurance.
• A homeowner’s or umbrella policy. Some cover small boats, and many exclude larger ones. The policy language decides.
• A rental or livery company’s coverage. Commercial operators usually carry their own insurance.
• Your own health insurance. It pays first in many cases, and it may seek repayment from any settlement.

The injuries we see after boat crashes are serious: traumatic brain injuries from a fall against a console or a hull strike, spinal damage from being thrown, propeller wounds that can lead to amputation, and near-drowning injuries to the lungs and brain. When a boating crash takes a life, the family may have a wrongful death claim. Mapping every available policy is often the difference between a claim that covers the full cost and one that stops at a low limit, and it is work Boesen Law does from the first week.

A Boesen Law Attorney on Boating Injury Claims

Bradley R. Unkeless, a Colorado trial attorney who has handled injury claims since 1983, puts it this way:

“People assume a boat crash is just bad luck on the water. In my experience, it almost always traces back to one operator’s decision, whether that was a cooler of beer, a phone in one hand, or a turn into a crowded cove at full throttle. The claims that hold up are the ones where somebody wrote down the registration numbers, got the names of the people on the next boat, and saw a doctor that same day. I also see a group that often gets missed: the dock hand, the rental guide, or the marina employee who was hurt on the job. Those workers may have a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the careless boater, and we look at both.”

Boat policies, homeowner policies, and rental contracts all have their own exclusions, so the paperwork matters as much as the facts. Bring whatever you have to your first meeting and we will sort it out.

Recoveries From Operator Negligence Cases

Boesen Law has recovered compensation for clients hurt by people who ignored the rules meant to keep everyone safe. One example from the road: a client struck by a reckless driver who ran a stop sign suffered extensive injuries that required surgeries, and Boesen Law secured a $770,000 settlement to cover the medical and financial needs of recovery. The water has different rules, but the core question is the same, an operator who ignored a clear duty. You can review more of our case results to see how we handle claims built on another person’s carelessness.

Contact Boesen Law After a Colorado Boating Accident

Your recovery is our priority, and a boating claim moves fastest when the reports, photos, and medical records are gathered while memories are fresh. Our team handles the insurers, requests the agency records, and prices every part of your loss, from surgery to the summer of work you missed.

We offer free, in-person consultations, and there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. When you are ready, contact Boesen Law today to talk with our team.

FAQs About What to Do After a Boating Accident

What must you do if the boat you are using is involved in an accident?

Stop, help anyone hurt or in the water if you can do it safely, and call 911. Exchange names, addresses, and registration numbers with the other operator, and report any death or disappearance to law enforcement immediately. If anyone needed treatment beyond first aid or damage topped $2,000, each operator must file a written report with Colorado Parks and Wildlife within five days.

What is the first step you should take immediately after a collision?

Stop the boat and make sure every person is accounted for. Before photos, before insurance, before arguing about fault, look for anyone who fell overboard and get them out of the water. Colorado law requires every operator to give reasonable help to others affected by the crash.

What is the first action of a boat operator who is involved in an accident?

The operator’s first obligation is to render assistance to the people affected, as long as doing so does not seriously endanger the operator’s own boat and passengers. The duty to share information and file a report comes after everyone is safe.

Can a passenger sue the driver of the boat they were riding in?

Yes. A passenger injured by the careless operation of the boat he or she was riding in can bring a claim against that operator, and often against the owner’s insurance, even when the operator is a friend or family member. When the boat is insured, the claim is usually paid by the policy, not out of your friend’s pocket.

How long do you have to file a boating injury lawsuit in Colorado?

Many boating injury claims fall under Colorado’s general two-year deadline in C.R.S. 13-80-102, not the three-year window used for car crashes, and claims against a public entity carry much shorter notice deadlines. The time limits on personal injury cases vary with the facts, so have a lawyer confirm your date early.

Call (303) 999-9999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form