A boater charged under North Carolina's education section took the course but left the card at home. What may clear the charge?G.S. 75A-16.2(c)
A law enforcement officer asks the operator of a 40 horsepower boat for proof of boating safety education. What does North Carolina law require?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)
A North Carolina boater meets the education requirement with proof of being born before which date?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(11)
A person without boating safety education operates under onboard direct supervision. Under North Carolina law, how old must the supervisor be?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(7)
Can North Carolina's temporary operator's certificate be renewed when it runs out?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(4)
Does an expired Coast Guard license to operate a vessel meet North Carolina's boating safety education requirement?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(3)
During a dealer's demonstration of a vessel in North Carolina, what puts the operator in compliance with the education requirement?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(6)
G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(4) lets a State-approved temporary operator's certificate stand in for the course. How many days does it cover?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(4)
G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(8) covers nonresidents who satisfy their own state's requirement. What limit does it put on their stay?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(8)
Show all 105 questions (96 more)
Boating safety education, continued
In North Carolina, boating safety education is required to operate a vessel with a motor of what size on public waters?G.S. 75A-16.2(a)
Instead of a course, which examination meets North Carolina's boating safety education requirement?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(2)
May a North Carolina county pass its own ordinance on boating safety education?G.S. 75A-16.2(d)
The operator of a boat falls ill on a North Carolina lake and a passenger with no boating education takes the wheel. When is that passenger in compliance?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(9)
Under G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(5), what does someone hiring a boat from a North Carolina leasing business show instead of a course card?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(5)
Which boating safety course, other than the Wildlife Resources Commission's own, does North Carolina law accept?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(1)
Who issues the boating safety certification card to a person who completes North Carolina's own course of instruction?G.S. 75A-16.1(d)
Whose line of work does G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(10) accept in place of a course?G.S. 75A-16.2(b)(10)
Personal watercraft 20
A 14-year-old in North Carolina operates a personal watercraft with an adult aboard. What must be true of that adult?G.S. 75A-13.3(b)(1)
A 15-year-old in North Carolina rides a personal watercraft alone. What must the rider carry?G.S. 75A-13.3(b)(2)
A personal watercraft has a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch. Where does North Carolina law put the lanyard during operation?G.S. 75A-13.3(d)(2)
A rider aims a personal watercraft at another boat and swerves away at the last moment. How does North Carolina law treat that?G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(3)
Between what hours does North Carolina ban the operation of a personal watercraft?G.S. 75A-13.3(a)
Does an inflatable personal flotation device meet North Carolina's requirement for a personal watercraft rider?G.S. 75A-13.3(d)(1)
From what age may a person operate a personal watercraft in North Carolina with none of the conditions set for younger riders?G.S. 75A-13.3(b)
G.S. 75A-13.3(a1) shrinks its 100-foot figure when the water is a narrow channel. To what?G.S. 75A-13.3(a1)
G.S. 75A-13.3(b) opens personal watercraft to some riders below 16 who meet its conditions. How young may they be?G.S. 75A-13.3(b)
G.S. 75A-13.3(d)(1) names the people who need an approved flotation device around a personal watercraft. Who are they?G.S. 75A-13.3(d)(1)
G.S. 75A-13.3(d1)(1) gives two ways to keep watch on someone pulled behind a personal watercraft. What are they?G.S. 75A-13.3(d1)(1)
G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(1) gives an example of a maneuver that endangers life, limb or property. Which is it?G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(1)
How does North Carolina's statute say a personal watercraft is designed to be operated?G.S. 75A-13.3(a)
How wide is a 'narrow channel' in North Carolina's personal watercraft section?G.S. 75A-13.3(f1)
In North Carolina's 'following too closely' rule, how near to the side of another vessel underway is too close for a fast-moving personal watercraft?G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(5)
Jumping the wake of another vessel on a personal watercraft is listed as reckless in North Carolina when done within what distance of that vessel?G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(2)
North Carolina's 'following too closely' rule for a personal watercraft applies above what speed?G.S. 75A-13.3(e)(5)
Outside a narrow channel, within what distance of a dock, swimmers or an anchored vessel must a personal watercraft hold to no-wake speed in North Carolina?G.S. 75A-13.3(a1)
What must a North Carolina vessel livery give a customer before letting the customer operate a leased personal watercraft?G.S. 75A-13.3(c3)
When a personal watercraft tows a skier in North Carolina, what caps the number of people operating, observing and being towed?G.S. 75A-13.3(d1)(2)
Personal flotation devices 9
At what vessel length does rule 15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(2) add a throwable device to the wearable ones?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(2)
Besides being approved and in working condition, what does North Carolina's rule require of each personal flotation device?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(4)
How many wearable personal flotation devices does North Carolina's rule require on a vessel?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(1)
In North Carolina, when may a young child be aboard a vessel underway without wearing a personal flotation device?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(3)
Rule 10F .0201(b)(3) on children under 13 leaves one kind of vessel out. Which?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(3)
Rule 10F .0201(b)(5)(B) frees some water toys and swimming aids from the carriage requirement altogether. Which?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(5)(B)
Under North Carolina's safety equipment rule, a child under what age must wear a personal flotation device while a vessel is underway?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(3)
What must a North Carolina vessel propelled by machinery of 10 horsepower or less carry for each person on board?G.S. 75A-6(n)
Which vessels of 16 feet and over does North Carolina's rule excuse from carrying the throwable device?15A NCAC 10F .0201(b)(5)(A)
No-wake speed and officers 10
A law enforcement vessel shows a flashing blue light on open North Carolina water. Within what distance must a passing vessel slow to no-wake speed?G.S. 75A-17(f)
An officer directs a vessel to stop on North Carolina waters. What must the stopped vessel do?G.S. 75A-17(e)
G.S. 75A-17(f) has a shorter slow-down distance for passing a blue-lighted patrol boat in a narrow channel. What is it?G.S. 75A-17(f)
How does North Carolina's Chapter 75A define 'no-wake speed'?G.S. 75A-2(1f)
On Lake Norman, within what distance of a launching area, bridge, dock, pier or marina must a vessel hold to no-wake speed?G.S. 75A-14.1
On which vessels does North Carolina allow a siren?G.S. 75A-17(d)
Under G.S. 75A-17(a), wildlife protectors may come aboard and inspect only after having done what?G.S. 75A-17(a)
What manner of operating a vessel or water skis does G.S. 75A-10(a) forbid on North Carolina waters?G.S. 75A-10(a)
Which light does North Carolina reserve for law enforcement vessels?G.S. 75A-17(c)
Which signals does G.S. 75A-17(e) list for ordering a boat to halt?G.S. 75A-17(e)
Water skiing and divers 10
A North Carolina boat tows a skier with no observer and no rear view mirror. What makes the tow lawful?G.S. 75A-13(a)
G.S. 75A-13(b) closes the water to surfboard and ski tows for part of each night. Which part?G.S. 75A-13(b)
G.S. 75A-13(c) lifts subsections (a) and (b) for one kind of person. Who?G.S. 75A-13(c)
G.S. 75A-13.1(a) limits the times at which the dive marker may be shown. To when?G.S. 75A-13.1(a)
G.S. 75A-13.1(b) fixes the white band's width as a share of the flag's height. What share?G.S. 75A-13.1(b)
G.S. 75A-13.1(c) keeps passing boats back from a mast or buoy that shows the dive marker. By how much?G.S. 75A-13.1(c)
How large must a diver's flag be under North Carolina law?G.S. 75A-13.1(b)
What must a person skin diving or scuba diving in North Carolina waters open to boating display?G.S. 75A-13.1(a)
Which colors and pattern does G.S. 75A-13.1(b) give the flag that marks a dive site?G.S. 75A-13.1(b)
Which piece of equipment can stand in for an observer when a North Carolina vessel tows a water skier?G.S. 75A-13(a)(3)
Impaired boating 8
A boater charged with impaired boating in North Carolina shows that the drug was lawfully prescribed. Is that a defense?G.S. 75A-10(b2)
A serious injury by impaired boating becomes 'aggravated' in North Carolina when the person has an earlier impaired boating conviction within how many years?G.S. 75A-10.3(c)
An impaired boater in North Carolina unintentionally causes a death, and the impaired boating is the proximate cause. What grade of offense is death by impaired boating?G.S. 75A-10.3(a), (f)
At what alcohol concentration does North Carolina bar a person from operating a vessel underway?G.S. 75A-10(b1)
Besides the numeric alcohol limit, what else bars a person from operating a vessel underway in North Carolina?G.S. 75A-10(b1)
Does North Carolina's impairment rule reach a person on water skis or a surfboard?G.S. 75A-10(b)
North Carolina's impaired boating subsection applies to a vessel 'underway'. When is a vessel underway under Chapter 75A?G.S. 75A-2(4a)
What is the least fine North Carolina sets on conviction for operating a vessel while impaired?G.S. 75A-10(b4)
Accidents and reports 11
A boating accident in North Carolina causes only reportable property damage. How soon must the operator file the report?G.S. 75A-11(b)
A person disappears from a vessel in North Carolina. Whom must the operator notify without delay?G.S. 75A-11(c)
A vessel is a complete loss in a North Carolina accident, and no one is hurt. Is a report required?G.S. 75A-11(b)
After a death on a North Carolina vessel the operator cannot give the required notice. Who must?G.S. 75A-11(d)
G.S. 75A-11(b) sets a dollar figure of harm to boats or belongings that triggers the written description to the Commission. What is it?G.S. 75A-11(b)
May a North Carolina boating accident report filed under G.S. 75A-11(b) be used as evidence?G.S. 75A-11(b)
The operator of a vessel in a reportable North Carolina accident cannot submit the report. Who must?G.S. 75A-11(b)
Someone is hurt in a North Carolina collision. What deadline does G.S. 75A-11(b) set for the written description?G.S. 75A-11(b)
What must a North Carolina boat operator put in writing for anyone injured in an accident and for the owner of damaged property?G.S. 75A-11(a)
Where does G.S. 75A-11(a) draw the limit of the help owed to others after a casualty on the water?G.S. 75A-11(a)
With whom does a North Carolina operator file the boating accident report?G.S. 75A-11(b)
Equipment and vessel classes 9
A North Carolina vessel with a motor of 10 horsepower or less is out after dark. What may it carry under G.S. 75A-6(n)?G.S. 75A-6(n)
A vessel on North Carolina's inland lake waters has a marine toilet. What must it also have?G.S. 75A-6(o)
An open-air exhaust engine on a North Carolina vessel needs muffling on each exhaust manifold stack when it can run above how many revolutions per minute?G.S. 75A-9(b)
Between what hours does G.S. 75A-6(n) require the white light or flashlight on a North Carolina vessel of 10 horsepower or less?G.S. 75A-6(n)
How long is a Class A vessel under North Carolina's Chapter 75A?G.S. 75A-6(a)
What does North Carolina law say about muffler cutouts on a vessel's engine?G.S. 75A-9(a)
What does North Carolina require of a vessel livery about the equipment on the vessels it rents?G.S. 75A-8
Which North Carolina class holds a vessel of 16 feet or over and less than 26 feet?G.S. 75A-6(a)
Which vessel falls outside the definition of 'motorboat' in North Carolina's Chapter 75A?G.S. 75A-2(1e)
Numbering 11
A boat numbered in another state is brought to North Carolina. After how long in the state does it lose its exemption from North Carolina numbering?G.S. 75A-7(a)(1)
A North Carolina vessel owner moves to a new address. How soon must the owner notify the Commission?G.S. 75A-5(j)
A numbered vessel is sold in North Carolina. Which identification number does the new owner's certificate bear?G.S. 75A-5(c)
After a numbered boat is junked, G.S. 75A-5(i1) gives its owner a deadline for telling the Commission. What is it?G.S. 75A-5(i1)
Besides the identification number, what may be displayed on either side of the bow of a North Carolina vessel under G.S. 75A-5(k)?G.S. 75A-5(k)
G.S. 75A-5(a) calls for the pocket-size registration paper to be kept somewhere whenever the boat is running. Where?G.S. 75A-5(a)
G.S. 75A-7(a)(6) frees small sailing craft from carrying a number. How small?G.S. 75A-7(a)(6)
What does the validation decal on a North Carolina vessel show?G.S. 75A-5(a)
What numbering periods may a North Carolina vessel owner choose between?G.S. 75A-5(a)
Where on a North Carolina vessel must the identification number be displayed?G.S. 75A-4
Which vessel does North Carolina exempt from numbering because of how it moves?G.S. 75A-7(a)(7)
How this list was compiled: Written only from the North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 75A, Article 1, the Boating Safety Act (sections 75A-2, 75A-4 to 75A-11, 75A-13, 75A-13.1, 75A-13.3, 75A-14.1, 75A-16.1, 75A-16.2 and 75A-17), read on the General Assembly's own site, https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_75A.html, on 2026-10-03, and from one rule of the Wildlife Resources Commission, 15A NCAC 10F .0201 (safety equipment), read the same day in the North Carolina Administrative Code kept by the Office of Administrative Hearings (reports.oah.state.nc.us, last amended effective March 1, 2023) and compared with the public copy at Cornell's Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/north-carolina/15A-N-C-Admin-Code-10F-0201, which is the copy the eight rule questions link to because the state's file server does not answer a secure link. Each question names its section and links to it. That an examination exists is G.S. 75A-16.2(b): a person meets the boating safety education requirement by passing an approved course or a proctored equivalency examination on the curriculum of an approved course. Neither the statute nor the rule gives a number of questions or a pass mark, so none is stored here. The Commission's boater education page, https://www.ncwildlife.gov/outdoor-skills/take-boater-education-course, was opened on 2026-10-03; it says anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 must complete an approved course before operating a vessel with a motor of 10 horsepower or greater, and that the instructor-led course ends in a written exam. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the statute and rule text; nothing is copied from a boater handbook, a boating course, a course provider's study guide or another practice test.
How it works
This unofficial NC boating license test practice draws only on North Carolina law: General Statutes Chapter 75A and one Wildlife Resources Commission rule. For steering and right-of-way questions, use the federal rules page. Read October 2026.
Read the full guide
10 horsepower, January 1, 1988, ages 14 and 16
G.S. 75A-16.2 asks for boating safety education on a motor of 10 horsepower or greater, unless the operator was born before January 1, 1988. The state's document is a certification card rather than a license. Personal watercraft start at 16; a 14-year-old needs an adult of 18 aboard or proof of education (75A-13.3). Children under 13 wear a life jacket underway (15A NCAC 10F .0201).
What the statute says about the course and the examination
Two tested routes are in G.S. 75A-16.2(b): an approved course, or a proctored equivalency examination on that course's curriculum. Neither a length nor a passing score is given, so the tool shows a bare score.
Three 100-foot rules: a personal watercraft near docks and swimmers, wake jumping, and passing a patrol boat's flashing blue light.
Ski tows may run until one hour past sunset, but a personal watercraft must be off the water at sunset.
Questions and answers
Who needs a boat license in North Carolina?
No one does: North Carolina has no boating license. Anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 needs boating safety education to operate a motor of 10 horsepower or greater. G.S. 75A-16.2(b) lists the ways to meet it, such as an approved course.
How old do you have to be to drive a personal watercraft in North Carolina?
Sixteen, or 14 with conditions. A rider of 14 or 15 needs an adult of at least 18 on the watercraft, or must carry proof of age and of boating safety education (G.S. 75A-13.3).
How many questions are on the North Carolina boating exam, and what is the pass mark?
The statute is silent on both figures; it names an approved course and a proctored equivalency examination. In Exam mode this page deals a set of 25, a size this site chose, and reports a score without calling it a pass or fail.
Is this NC boating test from the Wildlife Resources Commission?
No. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission neither wrote nor checked these questions, and this is not a government website. Open the section under any answer to test it against the law.