Golf Cart Deaths
 

According to a report from an online media source, 13 Villagers have lost their lives while driving their golf carts in The Villages just in the last 7 years. Unbelievable. I had no idea the numbers were that high. My sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. :pray:

Sgt Siemer of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office strongly suggested that Seat belts could have saved all 13 Villager's lives. Statistics suggest that seat belts, and their use, could become mandatory while traveling on streets and trails in The Villages. One only has to wonder when our insurance costs are going "sky high" because of all the serious golf cart accidents in TV.

Close to 60K golf carts in TV.....I suspect cart insurance in TV is very profitable for the insurance companies. The article also said that the deaths were all caused by ejections......look around as you cart TV and see how many care. Most still have no belts.

By any chance, did that media source indicate how many millions of miles are driven in golf carts each year in TV? Just trying to put the 13 deaths into some kind of context regarding golf cart safety. :o

I am glad I was not one of them. We have two point belts in one cart and three point belts in our other cart. We believe it is a personal choice.

Don

It wasn't too long ago that the VHA, Sumter Sheriff's Dept, Golf Cart Manufacturers, etc were recommending that seat belts not be in golf carts.

See this thread from 2008:

golf cart seat belts (The question)

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That is very true. Because of the possibility of roll overs.

I think that was true in the past. But I think that a lot of people are having belts installed now.
We just had belts installed six months ago.
I'm not sure that "most carts still have no belts". :confused:

Not roll overs
 

According to what I read, none of these fatalities were caused by roll overs. But its pretty certain that The vast majority of Villagers WILL NOT wear seat belts unless it became mandatory. Don't hold your breath!

I hate to sound totally negative but 13 deaths in seven years isn't a large number. That's one point something per year. People die in car crashes too.

I had seat belts installed in my cart and use them, even more conscientiously than before, since reading that article. I wear them even to go down the block. They say most accidents happen close to home, when you are more familiar with the surroundings and complacent.

In 2013, statistics show that there were 10.35 deaths per 100,000 population in the U.S. caused by motor vehicle accidents. This statistic only includes licensed vehicles on public streets. Even though just one death is tragic, I think that 13 golf cart deaths over 7 years for a community the size of The Villages shows that golf carts are reasonably safe. It is still a good idea to use seat belts and drive defensively.

Sometimes the people who die are the lucky ones, brain shear can put you in a nursing home for the rest of your life.

Still don't get the idea about parents who strap toddlers in infant seats in car, but think nothing about holding an infant on their lap in a golf cart

Of course installing and using seat belts are a personal choice. Like riding a bike or motorcycle without a helmet. But I know who is sitting next to me most every day while driving the golf cart in The Villages. And there is zero chance that I would risk her falling out of the cart from an incident that was my fault, ""their" fault, no ones fault. That's how I view it, but I respect the fact that others have different opinions.

These people did not die because they failed to wear seat belts, they died because they failed to control their vehicles.

To say they died because they weren't wearing seat belts is like saying Abraham Lincoln died because he wasn't wearing a Kevlar helmet.

Seatbelts in Golfcars are a good thing but are only designed to keep you from falling out of the cart. They will not stop you from hitting your head on the steering wheel or other parts of the cart. The retracting type are almost worthless, put it on and then yank it like you were in a accident and see what happens. This is a golf car,not a automobile, there is no NTSB involved.

So... the report by law enforcement stating that EVERY death resulted from a golf cart driver being ejected from the cart, striking their head and receiving traumatic head injury means nothing? I think it is an important revelation and it should be taken seriously. Heed it if you may, ignore it if you please. Some analogies are quite asinine by the way, and are disrespectful to those fellow Villagers who lost their lives in these accidents.