SAN DIEGO — San Diego settled this week a 9-year-old lawsuit that prompted a new state law that aims to make beaches throughout California safer by clarifying how fast lifeguards can drive personal watercraft near swimmers.
Before the new legislation, Assembly Bill 1682, state regulations appeared to bar lifeguards from driving faster than 5 mph within 100 feet of any swimmer or surfer and within 200 feet of any beach.
Those regulations, which state lawmakers called unintentionally restrictive and poorly written, came to light when a surfer injured at Mission Beach in August 2013 sued San Diego for gross negligence.
