COLREGs · Rule 8
Action to Avoid Collision
Last verified: 2026-05-16
TL;DR
Action to avoid collision shall be positive, made in ample time, and large enough to be readily apparent to another vessel observing visually or by radar. A succession of small alterations should be avoided.
Authoritative source
Source links checked against the current public rule corpus on 2026-05-16.
- 33 CFR §83.08— verbatim Inland Rule text (US Code of Federal Regulations)(retrieved 2026-05-16)
- International COLREGs Rule 8 verbatim text is published by the IMO. The Inland counterpart 33 CFR §83 chunk above mirrors the international wording almost verbatim.
Inland parallel
Inland Rule 8 — Action to Avoid Collision →More from Part B-I — Conduct in Any Visibility
Related drills
Drill COLREGs Rule 8
Try the free Rules of the Road practice questions (no sign-in), or sign in to drill citation-backed questions on this rule with immediate feedback and the source chunk in a popover.