State Declares Scuba Diving Hazardous, Limits Govt Liability in Accidents

Personal Injury Law (State News) July 26, 2010

Sacramento – California has added scuba diving to the list of recreational activities considered hazardous following Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of AB 534 into law this month.

The law also releases state and local governments from liability in lawsuits associated with the said recreational activity.

Assemblywoman Diane Harkey (Rep-Dana Point), the bill’s author, said she welcomed the signing as it would help to “allow more recreational activities in many communities, aid costal economies and the environment”. She added that the fear of frivolous lawsuits has hampered efforts to expand these activities in her community.

The law was initially created to address potential risks in sunken-ship-based scuba diving, which is hazardous and would require special training and equipment compared to normal scuba diving.

Harkey said that with the signing of the bill, the government will no longer be held liable in lawsuits involving scuba divers who get injured or killed while diving. It would also be beneficial to coastal communities who wanted to create artificial reefs and to divers who wanted to explore them.

Other sports currently on the hazardous list include surfing, water-skiing, windsurfing, kayaking and white-water rafting.

The new law will take effect January 1 next year.