[§200-29]  Accident reports by operators;confidential nature.  The operator of:

(1)  Any vessel involved in a boating accident in thewaters of the State; and

(2)  Any vessel required to be registered, orregistered, with the department and involved in a boating accident in anywaters,

shall file a written report with the departmenttruthfully setting forth all relevant information required by the department;provided that the report need not be filed with the department where theoperator is required by federal laws and requirements to report the accident tothe Coast Guard.

The department shall transmit information ofall boating accidents to the Coast Guard as may be requested by the agency forcompilation, analysis, and publication of statistics.

The accident reports required by this sectionshall be used only to enable the department and the Coast Guard to makefindings with respect to the causes of accidents and recommendations for theirprevention, and to compile information for use in making statistical reports;except that the accident reports may also be used in the prosecution of thefiling of false accident reports. [L 1991, c 272, pt of §2]