Local Legislators Disappointed Bow Riding Bill Failed

OCEAN CITY — There will not be new regulations regarding bow-riding this summer after proposed legislation filed late in the game stalled out as the General Assembly session expired this week.

In the wake of several serious boating accidents in the resort last summer, including a fatal propeller strike that claimed the life of a child in August, Ocean City’s representatives in Annapolis, including Senator Jim Mathias and Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, and Boat Act Advisory Committee in December, decided a regulatory remedy could be expedited rather than going the legislative route.

However, about halfway through the General Assembly session, for reasons unknown, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration reversed course and decided adding new regulations regarding bow-riding would more appropriately be achieved through legislation.

Mathias and Carozza then submitted cross-filed bills, which did make it out of their respective Rules Committees, but the legislation never saw the light of day as the session expired at midnight on Monday.

More