Is there a speed limit when boating on Texas lakes?

LUBBOCK, Texas — You’re out on your boat with your family and friends, speeding around and having a great time, when someone yells for you to go faster. You move your hand to do as they said when you suddenly wonder, “How fast can I legally go?”

The short answer is that it depends entirely on where you are and what’s around you.

The most well-known example of a place boaters need to slow down is a “no wake zone.”

These zones can differ in distance depending entirely on how near you are to a shore or docking area. For instance, the “no wake” zone is typically within 100 feet of a shoreline but is within 500 feet for piers, boat ramps or docks.

This also includes areas within 200 feet of anyone swimming in the water or boats that have a “diver down” flag up. In these areas you’ll typically go less than 5 mph.

Speed limits can also depend entirely on where you’re boating. In more narrow pathways, swimming zones or shallow water you may be expected to slow down. This isn’t just for your safety but for others’ as well. Any dangerous wakes could risk capsizing or harming other boats with people in it.

So, what if you’re out of a “no wake” zone, there’s no one around and the waters seem safe, wide and deep? Then according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, you can go as fast as you’d like, but it has to remain in within reason.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Code § 31.096 says, “No person may operate a vessel or manipulate water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device on the water of this state in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others or without due caution or circumspection, and at a speed or in a manner that endangers, or is likely to endanger, a person or property.”

“If one boat with some people on it are just cruising at normal speed,” Lieutenant Game Warden and Public Information Officer Aaron Sims said, “[then] another boat couldn’t just circle that boat at higher rate of speed or zoom really close to it at a higher rate of speed that could cause a collision. That would be reckless or negligent operation.”

It is recommended by some sites, however, that in open waters you keep your speed below 50 mph.

This also depends entirely on the time of day as the light can affect vision.

“It’s 2 p.m. bright sunny day [with] not a lot of people in the lake. That vessel would be able to operate a higher speed then say it’s dusk. The sun is setting. Visibility is low. The water is choppy, and you have people swimming in the area,” Lieutenant Sims said. “It really comes out to common sense and operating in a safe manner.”

This can be a lot of information and overwhelming which is why a Boater Education Class is mandatory for any adult born on or after September 1, 1993, or if you need a quick review, you can always visit the Texas Parks & Wildlife website for more information on boat safety and boating laws.