Golf Carts Are Not Toys
 

another golf cart accident--Parents loaned a golf cart to their son--he ran the cart into a tunnel wall, he and his two six year old daughters were transported to Ocala Regional--the cart didn't have seat belts--

While I would personally like to see mandatory seat-belts, for children as a minimum, I'm not ready without further info...to say the adult son was treating the cart "like a toy." :oops:

I once did an informal count of carts with seat belts. My wife was driving our cart when we were going to Lake Sumter Landing. I counted every cart we met and kept a separate list of how many had seat belts fastened. There was a whopping 10% of all carts we encountered!
I know it's not scientific but is indicative.

There seems little reason not to have seat-belts on a new cart as standard.

It adds a relatively small amount to the cost, but not as much as retrofitting them, and if all suppliers are persuaded to install them...

When we bought our golf cart, we had seatbelts added. It cost $200 extra. Seemed like a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Talk about stories being spun
 

The son who borrowed the golf cart had two kids and was listed as being 39.

I can't imagine how he hit the wall of the tunnel hard enough to cause injury unless he hit the entrance, it would just be a glancing contact.

As to seat belts. That has long been debated. Unlike your automobile a golf cart does not a passenger compartment designed to protect you. You do not have standard items such as airbags or a collapsing steering wheel. Most of them only have brakes on the rear wheels. Many of the seat belts are not properly secured to the golf cart and will simply tear out if needed.

Perhaps, an opportunity for all of us to think. Two golf carts, each going at the LEGAL 20 mph speed, it they hit head on it is a 40 mph crash.

Confession-we use our golf cart regularly around the Villages it is set at the LEGAL 20 mph and we are regularly, safe or not, passed by hotshots. We do have seat belts but they are unused. We do use our turn signals-do you?

Watching "grandparents" holding their (I assume) visiting infants in their lap while driving a wide opened cart or seeing 3 & 4 year old kids slumping in rear-facing back seats sometimes 3 across (even with belts which are totally useless for kids that size) and parents reaching over to "hold them in" won't help with forcing seat belts on every cart. We can't protect everyone from themselves and/or their own stupidity. Everyone complains about too many rules yet asks for a new rule for every dumbazz thing they see other dumbazz people doing. Dumb is dumb, stupid is stupid and just because a cart has a seatbelt doesn't mean they will be used. Can't protect everyone from themselves without having big brother watching us every single minute of our lives. Wait ..... ALEXA (or SIRI or GOOGLE), please turn down my thermostat 2 degrees.

The big question is: "Do your turn them off?" ;)

We do use our turn signals-do you?

There's an "off" switch?

Villages News June 25, 2019

Sledd, the son of John Daniel and Debra Sledd of 750 Rockingham Road, was totally ejected, the report said. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, having suffered “incapacitating” injuries, according to FHP.

The golf cart sustained an estimated $4,500 in damage. It had to be towed from the scene.

The investigator wrote in the report that Sledd had “operated motor vehicle in careless or negligent manner.”

Re: Turn signals
 

Yes, we do turn them off. We do not have the self cancelling signals but they are available.
Interesting to me. Our cart is 2014 and the device that causes the turn signals to blink is quite loud. Seems that the newer Yamahas have a much quieter,"clicker,"
As to turn signals. Like anything else, nothing is perfect. Golf cart or car, I wait long enough for the person signaling the turn to start the turn.
From my departed dad who taught me to drive always assume the other driver is going to do the stupidest possible thing because that is exactly what they are going to do. We all regularly see drivers looking for the right place to cause an accident.

I agree that the adults can make the decisions, ignorant as they may be, about the virtues of wearing seat belts. I disagree that they should be able to make that decision for children who are incapable of making safety decisions for themselves. Most of the injuries sustained here are not from head on collisions at 20MPH but by maneuvers that cause ejections, swerving to avoid, hitting curbs, or last minute decision turns. Seat Belts will mitigate those injuries. I personally would prefer to be restrained from ejection than miss my tee time.

I wonder
 

Your post is what my wife read to me. I wonder where,"an estimated $4500 in damages," comes from. That tunnel going to Brownwood, we regularly take it. You have, I would not, do not, people walking with no room to get away from carts as well as people on bikes.

"Negligent Manner," a polite way to describe it.

As to a solution, I think the lighting in those tunnels should be reviewed. I'm not certain as to what controls them. Time?
Ambient light? I also, suggest that people who insist on walking through those tunnels wear bright clothes. I regularly see people walking side by side dressed in black.

I must be the only person in TV who don't own or want a golf cart. These vehicles are designed to operate on a "Golf Course". Not being driven 25 MPH down Pinellas Place like I see almost daily.

You're not the only one, I like the protection & comfort of a real car