[CFrance]

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.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by CFrance

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.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

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

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.

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.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by villages07

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.

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).

[JoMar]

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.

[twoplanekid]

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

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

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.”

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.

[Mleeja]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

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.

[DonH57]

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.

[Mleeja]

Originally Posted by DonH57

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!

[Happydaz]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

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.

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!

[twoplanekid]

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

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

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.

[DonH57]

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.

[graciegirl]

''''