Headlight Requirements for Golf Carts
 

While driving and doing errands this afternoon I was greeted with the daily 3pm downpour about 45 min early. There were a substantial amount of golf carts caught in the rain, but still driving. Less than half of them had their headlights on, including the many that were on roadways shared with automobiles etc. The rain was coming down pretty hard, and they (headlights off carts) were difficult to see.

If cars need to have their headlights on, shouldn;t the carts do the same ?? It's more a matter of their safety.

"Should" is a loaded phrase.

I personally would not drive one without headlights and turn signals on or around real cars.

But, golf carts are not "street legal" and are not allowed on streets with "real" cars. If you have a cart that is street legal (LSL) it has to have lights, brakes, etc.

not allowed on streets ??
 

Of course they are allowed on streets !! They are everywhere .. You have a golf cart lane on major thoroughfares throughout the villages ! You are confusing street legal requirements vs MMPs .. but haven;t you noticed golf cart lanes on every major street within the gates ? how do you suppose golf carts get from their home to a MMP ? or a country club etc ...

I find the new lights so bright they are a safety hazard to oncoming traffic.

Here is the rub, FL law, if your wipers are on, your headlights (NOT daytime running lights) MUST be on, golf carts No wipers.....
I agree completely with your point, in the rain, put your lights on and be SEEN by other drivers. For a long time i would flash lights, etc., to try and get a driver to put on their lights, the results were so poor, I gave up.

I suppose the golf carts stay in their lanes and only cross streets where they have marked crossings.

Being on the MMP is not the same as being out in the traffic. Try driving down the "real" street and you face a serious fine, same with going more than 20 mph - you can do it, but you risk a big fine.

I am guessing he was referring to LSV carts AKA street legal that are driving down Morse or BV or 301 or 44A or Powell Rd or 466A east of Powell or Rolling Acres where "regular" golf carts are not permitted.

As for the topic of this post golf carts are supposed to (and should) follow all rules of the road when they are on one so that likely means turning on headlights or those big bright blinding front LED's some have when it rains. Wouldn't worry much about getting ticketed though for that for either a GC or a MV because the officer would have to stand out in the rain to write one. :).

EDIT: Those ^%%^*& ultra bright 50-LED single headlights on some GC's are a danger in themselves. Blinding and unnecessary.

I drive down two streets (with no separate area for golf carts) to get to Morse Boulevard, and they both seem real to me?

All golf carts and school buses...should have safety belts.

All motorcycle drivers...should wear helmets.

All...ahhh, never mind. :D

Not enough information. Are they 20mph neighborhood roads, or 35 mph connecting roads.

If they are 35 mph roads/streets then from what I understand if your cart is not a LSL and licensed then you are breaking the law - hence the term "not street legal". Whether the law is enforced, and whether there are exceptions, or whether I am just plain wrong - I don't know.

But, I could certainly could be wrong.

I expect the idea behind a GOLF CARt is to use on a GOLF CORSE not a road. I assume further most people do not play golf too late at night, so headlights would be a seldom used option - but I could be wrong.

With only a couple of exceptions (most of Morse Blvd, is one of those exceptions), golf carts can drive on all the streets in the Villages. They are real, public roads, accessible by normal motor vehicles. Most of them don't have special lanes dedicated to golf carts. The state/county roads prohibit golf cart traffic but they are the exceptions to the rule.

Regardless, I agree that golf cart drivers need to be more aware of their own vehicle. Turn signals ON when turning, OFF when you're done turning, headlights ON at dusk til dawn and when the sky is dark from rain or cloudy skies. Or, just turn them on and drive with them on all the time. That way you never have to forget to turn them on - you only have to remember to turn them off when you're done.

I see many vehicles driving without their lights on during the rains here!! Cars, trucks and yes golf-carts too. I have said that people bring their bad habits with them. That goes for not signaling, going way over the speed limits and more. It is dangerous not to have your lights on when the torrentials are happening.

And as a Public Service Reminder...DO NOT USE YOUR EMERGENCY FLASHERS IN RAINSTORMS!

It's illegal. :ho:


Hazard Lights Illegal (Click Flashers Here)

You are making a lot of poor assumptions...…….

A suggestion:
The VHA
Golf Cart Safety Clinic
3rd Wednesday 9AM, Colony Cottage

I see most vehicles don’t use turn signals. What’s up with that? Retired from signaling. Worst problem, more so than others. Only a dumbo would not turn on the headlights in rain. Lots of them are here and just lazy, I think

I apologize, I did not realize that The Villages are exempt from Florida laws concerning street legal vehicles.

They are not exempt. It's just that on MOST roads in the Villages, golf cart use complies with existing law. In the state of Florida, golf carts may be driven by anyone over 14 years of age on roads where the speed limit is 25mph or lower.

That's a general summary of the part of the state law that applies to the thread.

The speed limit in most of the villages is 25 and lower.

Here's the actual law, on the government website:

Statutes & Constitution
:View Statutes
:

Online Sunshine

Sorry, but Buena Vista, 466 and 466a do not have diamond (cart) lanes.

Okay, so then my bad above was thinking the limit was 20 mph, and that the roads between neighborhoods were/are 35mph.

Hey GrumpyOldMan, I know you are new to the Villages and are buying in the Villages south, so you have a lot to learn about golf carts in the Villages. Golf carts are a primary source of transportation for many Villagers, not just for golf. In fact, many non-golfers still use golf carts way more than their cars. If we don't need to leave the bubble, we almost never use a car. We go shopping, to concerts and shows, to dinner, to town squares, to the sports pools, to the dog parks, and many other places besides golfing in our carts.

Also, golf carts are not just for neighborhoods with a 20 MPH speed limit. Where we live, we often have to drive on Morse Blvd., in the dedicated golf cart lane, that is only separated from car and truck traffic often going in excess of 35 MPH, by a painted white line in the road. And we drive our carts at night so lights are a necessity.

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

Thank you for the information.

On that section of Morse the speed limit is 30 MPH.

That's an important thing to know for car drivers and "street legal" vehicles.

Communities are allowed to impose stricter rules on the roads that run through them. It's good that Morse has a designated golf cart lane in the places where cart driving is allowed.

The cross-over from Morse to the crossover MMP at Hope Lutheran Church by 466 is scary as all get out though. I wish there was some way to move that further away from the intersection, or have a traffic light that works like a walk light; you'd have to press the button to activate it.

Isn’t there tunnels and golf cart paths in that area?

Yes, but only to the south. Not where Jazuela is talking about.

That crossover is an insane piece of engineering that baffles the usually thought out cart path plans.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Plenty of room to push that crossover further North, issue is the gate with 2 lanes and traffic not sequenced causing unpredictable traffic flow for those trying to turn. Push it further North where it’s a single lane and add some stop signs. With all of the traffic, speeds and golf cars, a few more stop signs in the Villages would be safer for all. Yes it would be inconvenient, but you’re retired now, quit running so fast, those days are thankfully over.

The gate issue is why they might want to look into a walk-signal-type of thing.

I can see it in my head but not sure I can describe it right. Here goes, anyway:

Carts heading south toward the gate, veer *right* to a cart-way. Basically just a really big chunk of sidewalk where carts can turn, facing the other side of the road.

At that spot, there is a traffic pole with a big button, just like a walk signal button at any main intersection that has traffic lights.

The cart driver can reach out and push the button; he is already positioned to cross the street because he turned off the road-lane onto this sidewalk platform thing.

When the signal activates, the gates from the south side of Morse go down, and a NEW gate placed further north (on the south-moving side) also goes down, stopping other vehicular traffic.

This section of road is now clear for carts (and pedestrians - that's a MMP on the other side of the road!) to cross Morse Blvd. After a certain period of time, a buzzer buzzes to warn traffic that the signals are about to change, the gates go up, and the next batch of cart drivers start lining up until the next signal activates.

When no one is trying to cross the street, the gates could theoretically be left up.

What is the accident history at this location? If it ain’t broke why fix?

All golf carts used in The Villages have head lights. Golf carts do share the roadways with regular vehicles (such as within the residential streets and cart paths along main roads such as Odel Circle). All drivers should use common sense when it is raining. Turn on headlights when it rains while driving a golf cart. I don't know if this is a "law" around here but it certainly is common sense to want to be visible to other vehicles, whether they are golf carts or cars.

Our golf cart has high beams and they are WONDERFUL when driving on a dark MMP at night. They light up the path so I can see easily what is ahead and I feel very safe driving at night. Of course, I knock down the brights to the regular beam when another cart is coming toward me.......just like I do when I'm driving my car on a dark road at night.

Not in The Villages. Have you noticed the infrastructure here in The Villages to support golf cart travel to everywhere within our bubble?

///

Its all been said before.:shrug:

Not referring to high beams. I have them too. I am referring to those huge square LED panels that look about 12" x 18" that they mount in between the headlights. Same things that are used on off-road vehicles for dirt racing. They are bright blinding white and are illegal for use on a regular car.

Similar to these but look more like flat panels: 6.5" Quad-Row Off-Road LED Light Bar - 55W Flood Light- 5,040 Lumens | Super Bright LEDs If you had one coming at you on the MMP you would know what I am referring to.

That is why I usually don't drive my golf cart on Morse.
I agree, it's an insane piece of engineering.
Back when the population was 40,000, it was not great, but tolerable.
Now when the population is three times that, it's horrible. :rant-rave:

I agree Bare, Morse is not a safe roadway for carts IMO.
I have driven it rarely in the daytime but would rather take an a$$ kicking than drive it at night. When we go to SS, which we do often, we take the automobile.

It would definitely help if the gate attendant would hold back the auto traffic after a few cars are allowed to pass in order to let a few golf carts through. When the gate attendant let's the two lanes of car traffic through on an alternating basis, there is a non-stop flow of cars and carts can't get to the MMP. On the rare occasion that I am driving a car (almost always in a cart) I will stop and block the car traffic behind me to let some golf carts through. The cars behind me always start beeping their horns at me, but I don't let it bother me, I know all too well what it's like to be in a golf cart at that particular spot.

Can you imagine pedestrians trying to walk across the street there? There are village neighborhoods on either side of Morse in that area, one would think someone might actually want to walk to a friend's house once in awhile instead of having to drive just a couple of blocks away.