Golf carts as a traveling machine
 

As most of the golf carts driven in The Villages are designed for golf course travel, what changes should be considered to make them safer for use as a traveling machine? I haven’t purchased a golf cart and will probably rent until I become a full timer. So, my experience with them is very limited. Should these modifications be made mandatory by the District governments to reduce insurance costs and provide a safer environment for everyone? I understand that they are looking into golf cart safety.

For starters, I believe and have heard on this site that seat belts are a must. Should they be made mandatory?

I am not yet convinced they add to safety. Kind of like being strapped on a bike. But I have an open mind.

Buy a used cart. You will want a second one later.(After all you have two airplanes, ;) )AND drive as if everyone is nuts, because they are.

I'll leave others with more experience of modifying carts to really address your question but, to my mind, the most important consideration is to drive with extreme care - carts are fun, but they are not toys - and to assume that no-one else out there is paying attention

It is my understanding that many people use them as cars. As the volume of cart traffic increases, the likelihood of accidents also increases. It seems to me that everyone should be concerned and try to be proactive to implement changes to increase the safety of golf carts used as transportation vehicles.

A golf cart weights one heck of a lot more that a bicycle and travels a lot faster than I can pedal.

I can't imagine any cart sold locally not having the basic requirements to be driven as transportation. That is, headlights, turn signals, windshield. An enclosure package is a nice to have but not mandatory. Seatbelts are a wise move but not mandatory. Windshield wipers would be lovely but don't think you can get them with a fold down windshield. Street legal carts are another story and ill-advised, in my opinion.

As has been said, do remember they are not toys and drive very, very defensively, whether car or cart, but especially cart.

I would add two observations to the discussion as having rented a white numbered golf cart. Rear visibility using the installed mirror is limited and even more so when the enclosure is installed. Though they said the cart would go 20 M.P.H., I had the pedal to the metal and was still being passed. The cart didn’t have a speedometer. Better rear view mirrors and a speedometer in every golf cart?

Google: "golf cart crash tests". You will change your mind

Personally, hate the word MANDATORY.

If YOU feel safer/better with seat belts in your golf cart then by all means
get them.

Not trying to be a wise guy just my opinion!

I agree with you as an RC pilot who is not looking forward to all of the new rules governing flying drones. Yet, some things must change. Golf carts were designed for use on golf courses. Changes have and should be made to make them safer to use on the Village cart paths.

Should more equipment be required on carts, it’s up to someone to decide. Visit this discussion on who rules the cart paths -> https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...aths-tv-33195/

Headlights, taillights, brake lights and a horn.

I'm not a big fan of government mandates. Seat belts are an option as are motorcycle helmets. Golf carts are not cars. They will never be as safe as cars. Trying to make them as safe as cars is foolish. What's next mandating seat belts on bicycles? If you ride a motorcycle, bicycle or golf cart, you are assuming certain risks. If you want to be perfectly safe, don't ride any of them. And don't forget, golf carts are limited to under 20 mph. Even though many may go a bit faster than that 22 or 23 mph doesn't increase the safety hazard by very much.

I too am not a big fan of government mandates.

As a private pilot of 40 plus years, I have had to comply with a multitudinous list of rules, regulations and equipment mandates to be allowed to fly. Yet, some of those have probably kept me alive.

Golf carts are not cars but here in the Villages they are being advertised and used as such. Certain equipment items on carts might lead to a safer cart environment at little additional cost. As the Districts are looking at cart safety, apparently something bad is a happening. Many factors come into play so that it’s not always just the pilot or driver at fault.

How do you know how fast you are going without a speedometer?

there are apps for phones that will tell you a speed.......very accurate.

And Warranties can be voided.

Insurance costs on a cart is about $100 to $150 per year. You can get it through you're auto, home or a stand alone policy. We went through Villages Insurance for our home and when we bought a cart we got a separate golf cart policy from Villages Insurance written by Foremost Insurance. First year was 2011 it was $140, since then it has only been about $100.

Excellent post, sir.

If the intermodal paths are private property and controlled by the Districts, I wonder what their insurance costs are for these cart pathways. Plus, if everyone could save just $2 per year on their cart policy by having a better cart safety record in The Villages, we could more than afford to pay (50,000 carts x$2) for the trees on Lake Miona that were cut down.

I am just trying to think out of the box to improve the safe use of golf carts in the Villages. I have enjoyed all of the comments and look forward to again riding the trails later this month upon my return from Ohio.

A couple "quick" comments: I have had seat belts installed and use them without exception except when I'm golfing. I simply feel safer. I also have had "liquid lights" installed which makes my cart very visible both during the day and at night. If anyone cannot see me with all my lights then they shouldn't be driving. Having said that, I always drive very defensively and assume that anyone near me, whether in a car, on a bike on in another golf cart is possible danger. "Watch out"!!! and "beware" is my motto.

Many of the rental white numbered carts only go 15 MPH. That may be why you were getting passed. And as another poster mentioned, there are apps to check your speed. I use my car GPS occasionally to check that my cart isn't going over 20 MPH.

There are people who modify their carts to go up to 30 MPH but if caught (and there are golf cart speed traps here), the fine can be over $500 plus court appearances and mandatory professional modification to bring the cart back to 20 MPH. If a modified cart gets in an accident, they may find their insurance is voided.

Does anyone know anyone that has been stopped for speeding in a golf cart, and if they were prosecuted? With all the other stuff going on in TV I suspect golf carts going a few miles over the speed limit is not high on their list. At least based on the number of carts that pass me while I'm doing 19.7MPH.

If you get stopped, it is not a "speeding" ticket. It is a criminal violation. Operating an un-insured, unregistered, Low speed vehicle. Requires a mandatory court appearance, and professional modification of the cart to not exceed 20 mph. This was a first hand experience.

Who is advertising carts as cars?

I've seen them somewhere called "golf cars". I don't know where I saw it, but it stuck in my mind.

Also, not mentioned on this thread ............. you do not have to have a Driver's License to drive a golf cart. So you have golf carts traveling all over the place - on the road with vehicles - and the driver may never have had, or may have lost, their license.:22yikes:

YOU are gonna love it here. Buy yourself a golf cart...a nice used one or rent one and drive around for a total of three months. Then think of things to help.

Read Dr.Winston Boogie's post and then print it.

Drive very cautiously....People do NOT drive here like we are used to in Ohio. Expect anything, drive very defensively. This time of year, spring break, grandparents toss the keys to their very young grandkids. So far no youngster has been killed or caused a deadly accident, but they have wrecked up their grandparents golf carts.

We love our 22 year old grandson so much that when he asked to take the cart last month, after completing an internship in LA and driving there without incident, we told him no.

Fourteen people have died in golf cart accidents in the last five years. Some of them were liquor fueled. Some of them were lack of experience. All of them were because a golf cart is not an enclosed fortified vehicle.

Join us and be careful. You are a pilot and a smart man. We want to keep you alive and we want you to love this place like we do. Part of the fun is driving a golf cart to the grocery, and to the dentist and doctors, and out to dinner and to the squares and to your friends home and to play golf and pickleball and swim, and bowl and .....well you get the picture.

But get yourself a golf cart. AND be very careful.

I believe that graciegirl is making my point. She and I believe that golf carts are not cars and can be dangerous. She stated that “Fourteen people have died in golf cart accidents in the last five years. Some of them were liquor fueled. Some of them were lack of experience. All of them were because a golf cart is not an enclosed fortified vehicle.”

As far as publicly stating or advertising the use of carts as cars, graciegirl says “Part of the fun is driving a golf cart to the grocery, and to the dentist and doctors, and out to dinner and to the squares and to your friends home and to play golf and pickleball and swim, and bowl and .....well you get the picture.” Almost everyone says this about the use of golf carts in the Villages. Use them as cars.

Maybe I should never have used the word mandatory. So, lets back up a bit. If you could dream or make a wish for an upgrade to your cart that would make it safer for you to use on the intermodal roads, what would that be?

To make our golf cart operations safer should not be looked at as ridiculous. My look at this is very new and much less experience than most of you. So, I am relying on you to help me decide on the extra equipment that would be good to have to give me the best change of having an enjoyable and safe ride.

I agree that there are some government mandates that are reasonable. I wouldn't want you plane falling out of the sky onto my house for example. I wouldn't want people driving cars that have no license or training on how to drive.
I guess the question is at what point do mandates become intrusive and unnecessary. I think that we all probably have different opinions on that.

That is the point I was trying to make. Many people here have the means and the experience to do just that. There are more than fifty thousand carts here.

MANY people have been driving them for decades and thankfully have never experienced an accident.

It takes awhile to familiarize yourself with the cart paths...even with a gps. AND the ways of people...do not pull out in front of any cars. People can be so polite and endangering. Do not allow young people visiting to take the cart out by themselves. Get a speedometer, get a heater, get a urinal to fill with sand for divots, get a fan, get seatbelts, get an enclosure like a Curtis Cab, get some nice flames applied and your home team insignia, get some under lights and find a large dog to ride shotgun.

But drive one for awhile FIRST.

What are the current regulations?

According to 49 CFR 571.500 - Standard No. 500; Low-speed vehicles (Low speed vehicle means a 4-wheeled motor vehicle, whose speed attainable in 1 mile (1.6 km) is more than 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour) and not more than 25 miles per hour) shall be equipped with:

8) A windshield that conforms to the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on glazing materials (49 CFR 571.205).

(9) A VIN that conforms to the requirements of part 565 Vehicle Identification Number of this chapter, and

(10) A Type 1 or Type 2 seat belt assembly conforming to Sec. 571.209 of this part, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 209, Seat belt assemblies,installed at each designated seating position.

So, any speed more than 20 requires 8, 9 and 10 for all vehicles.

I guess that is why when I called the Villages Golf Cars store today to rent a golf car with seat belts they stated that none of their rental cars have seat belts. If the speed regulations were set at 19, would they reduce the speed of the cars to 19 or just comply with 8-10?

What percentage of carts have seatbelts in The Villages? Anyone want to hazard a guess? I know one person who has them.

I found this 2014 safety video released by officials in The Villages after a spike in golf cart crashes. The very first point that they make is to buckle up.

To have new Village Golf Car show rooms and service centers in Lake Sumter and Brownwood is great. But why don’t they rent golf carts equipped with seat belts and set a safety example for everyone?

Safety video released for golf cart drivers in The Villages | www.wftv.com

Maybe you should just stick with a car as a mode of transportation?

Golf carts as a traveling machine
 

I believe that, with seat belts and a modicum of common sense, driving a cart on the MMP's is at least as safe as driving a car on the road system.

That's a scary thought!

Seat belts keep you in the cart if there is an accident. Remember we are driving an open vehicle and it wouldn't take much for you to exit it and land on your face on asphalt, especially the passenger who is not holding onto a steering wheel. It's not like a car with doors and being in a steel cage. Carts are known to turn over and dump the driver and passenger out if they are not belted in.

I agree 100%. I had seat belts installed in our cart 2.5 years ago.. We use them religiously except on the golf course.

My wife and I have them in both carts....now you know 2 more people that have them......lol

I am not trying to dissuade anyone from getting seat belts installed.

I just don't think that percentagewise there are many seatbelts in golfcarts here in The Villages.

You are a helpful and good person JoMar and your posts are always sensible and positive.

I think people should also be warned about driving too fast and making abrupt turns. That slowing down on curves if very important and most of all do not drink and drive ANYTHING......and save your money.

Whoops there for a minute I thought I was talking to my grandchildren...but then I would have added. Don't drink and have unprotected sex.

I also am a private pilot and would never fly until at least 12 hours after consumption of alcohol. No so with hundreds of cart and auto drivers in TV each day, and especially at night.
There is , among many of our residents, a culture of drinking and driving golf carts. See long lines at the drink shacks, and overflowing sidewalk cafes.
Virtually all of these folks jump into their cart or car to return home or go to the next drink site( in the dark)( with very bad and glaring head lights) Until more strigent ennforcement action is taken , the problem will grow worse. :22yikes:bbbbbbbbbbbbbb

Agree 100%. I think the majority of people think of them as toys.:22yikes: I also think "visitors" come to TV to have fun and a huge part of that fun is driving a golf cart, and being visitors to the area they have no idea how dangerous they are.