I've been working on my golf cart to turn it into a time machine so I can travel in other dimensions without seat belts.

Sally Moss, a Supervisor for District 6 submitted her thoughts concerning safety on the Multi-Modal paths at the District 6 meeting on April 17, 2015. One thing she said was “The Districts can do something that has been proven to reduce accidents and make driving safer for all drivers, passengers and everyone else that is on the Multi-Modal Path with them and that is reduce the speed on the Multi-Modal Paths to 15 mph which is the top speed of golf cart models off the assembly line.”

For a complete text of what she said, please follow this link to download and read the PDF of the 04/17/15 VCDD 6 meeting found on the districtgov web site. Her comments are found towards the end of the pdf.

VCDD Meetings/Agendas

Even with a flux capacitor I doubt you could get the cart to 88 mph. A transporter is the only answer.:ho:

Thanks for sharing, I never would have seen this.

To save folks a minute or two looking for it, here is a direct link http://district.novusagenda.com/Agen...07&ItemID=3336

Her suggestion to lower the speed limits on the MM paths sounds like a step in the right direction. However, from her statements, it does appear (at least to me) like she is against striping/improving the driver's visibility on the MM paths by shifting the blame over to the drivers. I'm glad the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't feel the same way about the roads we drive our cars on. Of course there will be distracted drivers anywhere, but their tack is to take away as much of what can contribute to an accident as possible so that there is very little left except driver distraction.

Improving vision on the MM paths has been shown to be a veery slight financial burden. I do not understand why anyone is fighting it.

I hope the 15 mph limit idea never gets legs. Golf cart safety, like most things, comes down to personal responsibility. There is nothing wrong with 20 mph and I venture to guess that golf cart accident rate here (accidents per xxx miles) is pretty low. If golf cart speeds are limited to 15, many folks will opt to use their cars for longer trips thus putting more cars in the road and likely increasing the auto accident rate. Leave well enough alone.

I agree. There's nothing wrong with the existing 20 limit now. It's the foolish and irresponsible that just don't care they are putting others at risk. If it was lowered it will be greatly enforced as the 20 is now. The only thing that will slow down the souped up carts will be when the owners are hit in the wallet. An unfortunate truth.

I get your points, but I still see the value of striping the paths to increase visibility. The District 6 supervisor seemed to be trying to lead the conversation elsewhere.

I agree with you villages07. I can't remember ANYTHING I haven't agreed with you about since I first arrived..

Further, I say, if you make the speed limit 15, I betcha it will be ignored. It feels like you arecrawling across the Morse Bridge at ten MPH. But I do it because it is safer to do it.

Golf cart safety. Can someone tell me the number of accident that happen on the paths. I would suspect not many. Another point, the Villages Golf Cart repair will not work on a cart that goes over the max speed.

We all moved here to enjoy life, let's not start putting another set of rules on us.

The golf cart drivers will speed if they want. I personally am not telling a golf cart driver what to do or not to do. I feel that making the paths safer with adequate markings should trump some district supervisor's admonishments about people acting responsibly. I imagine the majority do, and the rest, well... they're going to drive like they want. Why not make the "roads" safer for everyone?

Look how much safer our highways are now, and how the death rate from auto accidents has declined. I've driven (in a car) down unmarked back roads at night in the rain. We've driven down a mountain at 5:00 am in the fog to catch a plane. I get the point about striping the paths for better visibility.

You are very right. I just wish people wouldn't drive under the influence, cars or carts.

I didn't direct my remarks toward you C. I am sorry. I don't want another person to die, or to be seriously injured in a golf cart accident, but I do think twenty miles an hour is an o.k. speed. I don't know if the OP has a golf cart yet but I wish him to be safe.

Me neither,GG. And I agree with you about the drunk driving. There are many factors involved in accidents, and that is probably the worst.

:agree: Leave well enough alone. Most people don't observe a speed limit of 20 MPH, why would they observe 15 MPH?
At 20 MPH we are constantly being passed (not because of fumes, we drive electric).

Safety is about the driver, the driver and the driver. Since there is no enforcement of speed why is it even discussed? Striping won't help, drivers will drive the way they always drive.....IMO, until we address the root cause (driver) and there is some kind of enforcement (which will never happen) most of the proposed band aids are a waste of time and money.

Some more discussion of the multi-modal path by a Supervisor Knoll in January found in the VCDD 5 Meeting 4/17/15 notes on the district gov web site
********
Supervisor Knoll stated “Yeah, I, Mr. Chairman, when I saw it was on the agenda I took a ride
up to District 4 on my golf cart and did some multi-modal path cruising and I noticed first of all there’s a
difference in terms of the paths on the north side of 466 versus the south side in certain areas where
they’re paths are much narrower because of restrictions; such as if you look at the entrance to Belle Aire
off of Buena Vista, is one indication and there are others, the path is forced to be narrower just because
of existing walls and other things that are in place so it can cause some problems because it is my
understand that multi-modal paths are just that, they’re there for golf carts, they’re there for bicycles,
pedestrians, joggers, walkers, I happened to be a bicyclist, not of Lance Armstrong’s quality I can assure
you but a bicyclist nonetheless and it seems to me that the introduction of striping adds certain
conditions that may cause us problems in the future. The speed limit on these things is basically the
speed limit of a golf cart, 20 miles per hour, I know I don’t do 20 in my bicycle and most walkers and
joggers and even some accomplished aren’t at that speed, even some of the golf carts aren’t of that
speed. If you insert, say a dash line as I saw in District 4 it suggests that golf carts cannot only go
around bicyclists and pedestrians, which they probably will want to, but they can also go around slower
moving golf carts and exceed that 20 mile per hour speed limit to do so and I don’t think that, they’re
VCDD No. 5 - Meeting Minutes
January 16, 2015
Page 7
not supposed to do. The other thing that I noticed, and I noticed in our District is most of the side
streets, and I’m not referring to Belvedere or Churchill because they are striped, but all of the other
streets are not and I don’t want to get to the point where I’m treating a multi-modal path like a road by
striping it and putting in all sorts of conditions. I think the installation of certain reflective markers that
we already have in place at curves and so forth have provided the necessary safety and suggestions to
golf cart operators that this is where you have to stay. The other thing I like about the raised markers is
if somebody and unfortunately there are many people who have some sight restrictions, the markers give
them a, literally a physical notice that they have drifted over the line because you get a thump, thump,
thump when you drive over it, where on stripe not necessarily so. So I guess given that and the time, I
spent a fair amount of time reflecting on the topic once your brought it up and taking a look in District 4,
it’s my view that we would be better off not striping the multi-modal paths.
*****

and there is more to read if you go to the site

Very few golf carts have speedometers so how can someone estimate their speed? Who is going to enforce it? Is it a solution to a problem we don't have? I've never seen an accident with golf carts but know they exist but with 55,000 golf carts here there are bound to be some.

Speeometers are a very non expensive option for a golf cart. In addition there are several free speedometer apps for the iPhone which are very accurate. Heck, even my golf buddie has a speedometer... No reason for someone driving a cart to not know how fast they are going.

The cost of putting a speedometer on a cart is a lot cheaper than a " unregistered vehicle" ticket but that's only gonna happen on a public street if it's being watched by the police.

I agree, is MUCH less! Speeding down Morris Blvd north of 466 is just asking for an unregistered vehicle citation. A. Get a speedometer B. Do not speed even if your buggie goes faster than 20 mph!

More accidents occur than most people think. The February 2014 Property Owners Bulletin (POA) reported that there were 12 golf cart fatalities in the last six years. Most fell out and hit their heads on the pavement. 22 occupants during that time period were so seriously injured when they were ejected from their vehicles that they had to be trauma alerted to trauma hospital centers in Ocala and Orlando. They are only listing fatalities and serious injuries here, but there were also other less serious accidents as well. Be careful out there!

Maybe I should not have purchased that used ParCar with the large tires.

Please read what Chairperson Moss has to say in comments Part 2
Coversheet

I suspect she is talking about carts like mine where the factory installed cart has 8" wheels and I installed 10" wheels. I did not do that for speed.

The Par Car was 'likely' built by factory with large wheels and speed should be set at 20.

She mistakenly ties the speed of a cart to the tire size, missing the fact that most 'sped' up carts have a larger motor or have had gears replaced.

It scares me she suggests regulating tire size beyond what is done for the golf course and the impact that will have on cart owners. I fully support more enforcement wherever possible, even considering how they could extend that to MM paths.

It's the people who've modified their carts governor or speed controller so they lead foot it on the paths, not tire size. Did she do any research or grab her speculations out of the air? The only problem I've had with speeding golf carts are the ones that pass you on a blind curve without regard to what's ahead.

''''

Actually Gracie I never think of myself as the sharpest knife in the drawer and I try my best never to call other people stupid. I 'm concerned about where she got the information about the larger tires. At most you might achieve a one mph out of larger tires. It's the tinkering of the carts that's the problem.

Some of the attachments at the bottom of the PDF in comments - part 2
list her sources. Please read everything.

Coversheet

Actually I did read everything. If I increase the size of my tires I would still have to change governor or speed control setting to prevent my cart from slowing back down. True I would get a very temporary speed gain but not long. I believe if every one were made to have 8 inch tires it wouldn't solve the problem and would be just as enforceable as speeding on the paths now. I hope I didn't convey the lady was stupid. She clearly isn't or she wouldn't be on the board. The biggest problem is the clowns treating the golf carts as toys.

Sally Moss again

My house came with a Par Car. It went 17.5 mph. Had a cart guy servuce it and asked him to jack up the speed as I was always leading the parade. He said that was the flat out speed due to the motor size. He gave me two options, new motor or 10 inch tires on the back. Changed the back tires from 8 to 10 inch and increased my speed by 2 mph. That was over two years ago and am still zipping along.

Changing the golf cart speed limit to 15 mph won't fix stupid. Trying not to be political but changing the speed limit would be like adding gun laws to existing laws that are not enforced to keep people from shooting each other. There is nothing wrong with the existing cart speed limit now. I personally feel education is the biggest problem. The only briefing for new residents in regard to navigating the villages is not a mandatory one. Ignorance is no excuse but it's happening.

Well, here it is and you get what you pay for. As the study does not address the current or future numbers of golf carts, walkers, joggers, bicyclists, Segway users, or roller bladders, there certainly was no need to factor in the lower use of these pathways during summer months to adjust this analysis.

As The Villages grows, the existing multi-modal roads will incur greater use and more chances for accidents. Where is the forward thinking?

I wanted to see traffic counts and speed data. I thought that some data was to be collected? The VPSD accident data collected to date is very limited in scope and thus not too useful in developing safety solutions for current and future increased use on the multi-modal paths.

This new study is very, very limited in scope. I am not impressed and must hope for the best. I know that you must drive defensively and nothing should change and remember that fate is the hunter.

http://www.**************.com/wp-con...ing.pdf?f3185a

Sorry, my link will not work as it goes to that other news web site. It should be up on districtgov soon I hope

I just sold my golf cart. I do not golf and my car is much safer and more comfortable to get around in. We put very little mileage on it for what we do.

We had seatbelts and they once prevented my wife from flying out of the cart when I hit a curb during turn. I think they should be mandatory given all the reports of people being thrown from their carts during accidents. I still see people driving carts with little kids on their laps or dogs on the empty seat next to them. I have seen a cart with a young man standing on the rear well where the golf bag goes. There still seems to be an attitude that golf carts are not real vehicles and safer than cars even though they go 20 mph.

Common sense and being careful at all times and not drinking and driving will help. I doubt lines are going to do it. And no one says you have to drive a golf cart if you are not comfortable doing so. More rules and regulations will not fix stupid driving.

Safety should always be a concern when using machinery. The Villages is unique in that no other place in the world has as many golf carts being used as cars. Thus, we must take the initiative to insure the safe operation of our traveling machines. We can’t look to others as no one else is like us in this regard.

It’s time to gather the necessary data to assess Village golf cart safety. A rational analysis of this Village phenomenon may lead to changes that will increase safety for all. To suggest doing nothing will result in a delay of finding a solution.

I find it interesting that a community that has more rules on the books for what is allowed or not as far as looks is so adverse to changes that might increase safety.

So, please try to rethink your attitude to an extensive study of golf cart safety in The Villages. We can argue about what changes might be requested at a later time.

Another look at the future maybe sooner than you think->

Self-driving golf carts share sidewalk space with pedestrians

This is a pretty broad statement. Exactly what data are you suggesting be gathered, who should collect the data, who should pay for the data collection, and who should analyze it? I remain unconvinced that there is a problem. There are golf cart accidents but there are also car accidents. Almost all can be attributed to driver error. You can not analyze away human error and you cannot analyze away poor judgement and poor choices.

Is driver error caused by speeding or other factors? As an example, are golf cart drivers speeding on the multi-modal trails and how busy are some sections of these trails? I don’t believe anyone can say for sure because a traffic/ speed count hasn’t been taken. It would not cost the SLCDD or PWAC that much to collect this kind of data.

Golf cart accident data collection should be as comprehensive as car accident analysis to help present a clearer picture as to the cause of these accidents. I would suggest doing these things as a start until we have self-driving golf carts. :icon_wink:

Once you have a few hundred hours under your belt driving a golf cart than people will listen more carefully to what you have to say. Many of us have been driving around here for upwards of a dozen years and have had nothing bad happen. I think anyone can tell you that drinking and driving does not mix and driving with a vision problem is chancy too. Perhaps we should all have our reaction time tested, but I don't think that will be a popular solution.


You haven't had a chance yet to drive a cart for more than a month...allow your own self to have some experience before you try to make changes to the system.

Hi gracie :welcome: