5.8Liability of Personal Watercraft Owner for Negligent Operation/Presumption of Consent to Use

“The owner of a personal watercraft is liable for any injury occasioned by the negligent operation of the personal watercraft, whether the negligence consists of a violation of the statutes of [Michigan], or in the failure to observe the ordinary care in the operation that the rules of the common law require.” MCL 324.80207.

“The standard of care imposed regarding the operation of personal watercrafts is . . . negligence.” Van Guilder v Collier, 248 Mich App 633, 637 n 3 (2001).

“The owner is not liable unless the personal watercraft is being used with his or her expressed or implied consent.” MCL 324.80207. “It shall be rebuttably presumed that the personal watercraft is being operated with the knowledge and consent of the owner if it is driven at the time of the injury by his or her son, daughter, spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, or other immediate member of the owner’s family.” Id.