[NoMo50]

Originally Posted by G.R.I.T.S.

I may be wrong but street legal LSVs are only electric.

First time I've heard that, and I think you may be wrong.

[RoadToad]

Originally Posted by G.R.I.T.S.

I may be wrong but street legal LSVs are only electric.

That is incorrect.
My LSV is Yamaha Quiet Tech gas.
Licensed, insured, registered, plated.

[ChicagoNative]

I’ve had both a Yamaha gas and an Atomic electric cart. Both street legal. Street legal carts, or LSVs, need to be insured and plated like a car. My gas cart topped out at 28, the Atomic at 32.

After 8 years of living here, the golf cart path novelty wore off, and I sold my Atomic to buy a second car. I don’t golf and was mostly on the street cart lanes anyway, so it made sense to me. YMMV.

I understand the appeal of a cart, especially if you’re new here or a golfer. If you want a street legal cart, I highly recommend 24-hr cart. They will handle everything for you. Nitial outlay will be about $700 depending on what your cart needs.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by ChicagoNative

I’ve had both a Yamaha gas and an Atomic electric cart. Both street legal. Street legal carts, or LSVs, need to be insured and plated like a car. My gas cart topped out at 28, the Atomic at 32.

After 8 years of living here, the golf cart path novelty wore off, and I sold my Atomic to buy a second car. I don’t golf and was mostly on the street cart lanes anyway, so it made sense to me. YMMV.

I understand the appeal of a cart, especially if you’re new here or a golfer. If you want a street legal cart, I highly recommend 24-hr cart. They will handle everything for you. Nitial outlay will be about $700 depending on what your cart needs.

Which, btw, made both of them illegal, since LSVs, by law, cannot be capable of exceeding 25 mph.

Section 320.01(41), Florida Statutes, defines LSVs as “any four-wheeled vehicle whose top speed is greater than 20 miles per hour, but not greater than 25 miles per hour.” LSVs must be registered, titled and insured with personal injury protection (PIP) and property damage liability (PDL) insurance. Any person operating an LSV must have a valid driver license in their immediate possession.

[FredJacobs]

In addition to the requirement of additional equipment for Street Legal Carts, they can travel on roads that have a speed limit of 35 MPH or less. That is why they cannot drive on 466, 466A, etc.

[Rsb23]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Which leads to the larger question. Why are golf carts limited to 20 and street legal carts to 25? My cart is set to 19.9, but I have everything that would qualify it to be street legal except a 1-piece windshield and of course the registration fee. People have cited safety as a reason and that carts were only engineered to go 15, so why does paying a fee make the cart safer at 25 than it would be at 20? Oh, yes, the difference is THE FEE.

It’s not only the windshield that is required, but upgraded braking systems that use both the front and back wheels, seat belts for all passengers, a powered windshield wiper, upgraded brake lights and turn system lights. The golf carts sold by Club Car, E-Z-GO, and Yamaha only have rear wheel brakes and non of the other needed improvements. This is the biggest safety feature and is needed at higher speeds. If the golf carts has all needed additions it is given a vin number not just a serial number so it can be registered.

The registration fee is not even a consideration. The insurance cost usually go from about $100 to about $900 or more. The benefit of using a LSV over using a golf cart for most trips around the villages would be saving a couple of minutes at most. The negative is being hit by a car or truck that could kill you.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Rsb23

It’s not only the windshield that is required, but upgraded braking systems that use both the front and back wheels, seat belts for all passengers, a powered windshield wiper, upgraded brake lights and turn system lights. The golf carts sold by Club Car, E-Z-GO, and Yamaha only have rear wheel brakes and non of the other needed improvements. This is the biggest safety feature and is needed at higher speeds. If the golf carts has all needed additions it is given a vin number not just a serial number so it can be registered.

The registration fee is not even a consideration. The insurance cost usually go from about $100 to about $900 or more. The benefit of using a LSV over using a golf cart for most trips around the villages would be saving a couple of minutes at most. The negative is being hit by a car or truck that could kill you.

Do you have a source for this claim?

EDIT:
Specific requirements for converted golf carts: FL form HSMV-86064
Windshield wiper: FL Statute 316.2952(3) & (4) (note: this is called out for converted golf carts but not manufactured LSVs but perhaps the requirement is implicit in manufacturing a vehicle as an LSV)

[USNA87]

Is it legal to put a license plate from your home state car (expired or not) on your cart? Not as a display of registration, but for cosmetic display.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

This argument is academic. Your golf cart is not engineered for streets of any kind. It is engineered for a golf course where the most likely collision would be a collision with a person or a tree. It is only by concession that they are allowed on streets at all. They can't even safely deal with hitting a curb without a tip over risk. Pushing the limit people want to drive them on busier roads / highways. If the speed limit is 35MPH and they can only go 30MPH, they are a hazard.

Golf course carts don’t have lights and not made street ready which the law requires, so street ready carts are not golf course carts but carts that can be used on golf course.

They only suppose to go 25 MPH max. Again Nobody licensees golf cart to go extra 5 MPH, they are already doing that. Every LSV I pass going down B/V, El Camino Reno, Morse blvd. Going 30 plus. None of them are going 25 MPH max.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by USNA87

Is it legal to put a license plate from your home state car (expired or not) on your cart? Not as a display of registration, but for cosmetic display.

Depends on what county and LEO you encounter? Being Florida don’t require front License Plate probably ok depending on which county you’re in? IMO I wouldn’t put out state expired plate on back of golf cart, but that me.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Do you have a source for this claim?

EDIT:
Specific requirements for converted golf carts: FL form HSMV-86064
Windshield wiper: FL Statute 316.2952(3) & (4) (note: this is called out for converted golf carts but not manufactured LSVs but perhaps the requirement is implicit in manufacturing a vehicle as an LSV)

My guess is that a vehicle manufactured specifically as an LSV comes with certain things as standard, and don't have to be fitted after the fact with those things. Most golf carts don't come with windshield wipers.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by USNA87

Is it legal to put a license plate from your home state car (expired or not) on your cart? Not as a display of registration, but for cosmetic display.

I don't remember where I read this - but I BELIEVE that you need to remove the date sticker from your plate, if you want to display it for cosmetic purposes.

A plate with a current date sticker, in other words, would not be permitted to be put on your golf cart.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Depends on what county and LEO you encounter? Being Florida don’t require front License Plate probably ok depending on which county you’re in? IMO I wouldn’t put out state expired plate on back of golf cart, but that me.

Yup, you're gonna get exactly that. Some coppers don't give a rat's azz about golf carts, some find them annoying and will cite when opportunity arises. Same with cyclists. Some did not care or were cyclists themselves. Me, I found them annoying and aggressive so they got cites for running stop signs. They are "vehicles" on the road, technically, after all. They were usually mostly upset about having to unclip from their ballet shoes and ruin their shot at pretending to be Lance Armstrong or their local heat map times. Funny thing is, they often got an additional cite for not having a license in their possession. Were they driving? No. Were they vehicles upon the roadway? Yes.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

Yup, you're gonna get exactly that. Some coppers don't give a rat's azz about golf carts, some find them annoying and will cite when opportunity arises. Same with cyclists. Some did not care or were cyclists themselves. Me, I found them annoying and aggressive so they got cites for running stop signs. They are "vehicles" on the road, technically, after all. They were usually mostly upset about having to unclip from their ballet shoes and ruin their shot at pretending to be Lance Armstrong or their local heat map times. Funny thing is, they often got an additional cite for not having a license in their possession. Were they driving? No. Were they vehicles upon the roadway? Yes.

This has an odd aroma to it.

No states require a drivers license to ride a bicycle on a public road. There is no way for a 13 year old to even obtain a license though they can legally ride their bicycle on a public road. All states require a license to operate a motor vehicle but a bicycle is not a motor vehicle. Heck, Florida does not require a drivers license for someone 18+ to operate a golf cart on a public road.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

This has an odd aroma to it.

No states require a drivers license to ride a bicycle on a public road. There is no way for a 13 year old to even obtain a license though they can legally ride their bicycle on a public road. All states require a license to operate a motor vehicle but a bicycle is not a motor vehicle. Heck, Florida does not require a drivers license for someone 18+ to operate a golf cart on a public road.

Oh, it absolutely will not hold up in court. In fact even if you are driving a motor vehicle and do not have your license in possession, it is almost always "forgiven" by the bench officer when actual license IS presented. CVC 12951. Still, it's an added line on the cite to get negotiated away so that the actual CVC 22450(a) (blowing the stop) is more likely to be upheld in full.