Questions From a New Golf Cart Owner
 

My wife and I are new residents in TV and recently bought a golf cart. Last week, while my wife was driving the cart along Marsh Bend Trail, a Wildwood police officer pulled up alongside of her and made her stop. He informed her that the expired Illinois vanity plate on the rear of the vehicle was illegal and that she was traveling at 30 mph, which is in excess of the golf cart speed limit. When she mentioned that the cart was set to not exceed 23 mph, the officer suggested that maybe she was "going downhill" (on Marsh Bend Trail?). My wife did not argue further and that was the end of the conversation.

My wife's experience has me curious to understand the laws and rules pertaining to golf carts in TV. I have read sometimes conflicting legal information regarding the registration and need for insuring carts, such as:

"Golf carts that ride on public streets and are capable of traveling more than 20 mph and carry registration are considered LSVs, which means you must have insurance on them."

"In Florida, all golf carts operated on public roads require registration with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. All valid registrations must include a vehicle identification number. Golf carts must always display an up-to-date registration decal."

Other questions that I have include:

* I see license plates adorning golf carts all over TV, are they illegal?
* Do the golf cart lanes that adjoin roadways in TV qualify as "public roads" in the quote
above?
* When insuring a golf cart, what is the recommended coverage and what should I expect
to pay?

The officer was having a bad day.............who knows what happened at h

Yes.


Get 2 or 3 quotes......start with your homeowner's agent.

If I remember several years back I read in the paper that Sumter County Sheriff's Dept was going to start writing tickets for expired plates on golf carts. I never heard what happened to that because I just removed mine and stuck it on the garage wall.

I was told that was something you did when you moved into TV to show from which state you relocated.

If he actually clocked the golf cart at 30 MPH, you dodged a bullet as this would classify the golf cart as an unregistered Low Speed Vehicle, and you could have faced several charges including going to court, various offences, and the requirement to have the speed reset to 20 mph. I have never heard of the "illegal out of state tag" as well have a out of date PA license on our cart for several years. I am guessing you caught the police attention due to the excessive speed.
IMHO, I would consider you very lucky and then get the speed reset.

If the officer said you was going 30 mph obviously the cart juiced up even if you was on slight downhill grade. IMO even it’s goes 24 on flat and level ground IMO that’s too fast. You are pressing your luck ������. Which looks like you already used you luck up. I am surprised your village ready cart don’t have speedometer? If it does you need to check calibration if it’s readying slow? Unless you legally license the cart as LSV 23, 24 plus in violation as other suggested if caught again could be hefty fine. Just not worth it to me. But, that’s me.

The villages spread out over 3 counties, so you may get different officer opinions in each county. Bottom line you had license plate on cart that expired and you are driving it on public street.

The problem was by traveling greater than 21 mph you are now classified as LSV and need to have a tag and other requirements. Therefore he was telling you that you have an expired tag as a LSV is required to have a tag and if he checked would also have found out it was not the correct one for your cart (another problem). You actually were lucky at one time Sumter county issued $600 tickets for these offenses and you had to go to court. A golf cart which can not exceed 21 mph can have a tag from another expired vehicle on it.

There is also another 800 pound gorilla in the room.

If you have a cart that exceeds 20 mph, you may hot have insurance coverage even if you pay for cart insurance, simply because you are no longer operating a golf cart as that is defined in the law. That could mean that if you have an accident for which you are found to be liable, in whole or part, all of your assets may be attached for payment of any damages caused. I might add, that this scenario applies even if the accident occurred when you were operating it at under 20 mph.

And they would know your speed how?

So this is my perception of what you described, OP:

1. A golf cart that can go 23 MPH is no longer merely a golf cart, but an LSV - Low-Speed Vehicle.
2. LSVs must have plates, and be insured.

Your wife admitted that her cart was set to go up to 23MPH, putting her cart in the LSV category.
It had plates - from another state, expired.

So she broke the law. She was driving an LSV with expired plates.

It doesn't matter if she was speeding or not. What matters is the vehicle she is driving - is /not/ legally a golf cart. It's legally an LSV and the plates have to be current, representing actual registration, and the vehicle needs to be insured, and she has to be licensed to drive. All of these things have to be true. If any of them are not true, then she is breaking the law.

Whether the cop chose to do anything about it is another matter entirely, but it looks like he was explaining all this to your wife. This would also explain why he ordered her to stop - because the cart was going faster than 20mph. Whether 23, or 30, it's still exceeding the limit for a golf cart, and still has an illegal plate for an LSV.

Also - LSVs aren't allowed to be capable of going 30mph so even if it was legally registered, IF he clocked her at 30, then she'd be breaking the law anyway.

Probably the same way they know how fast you are going in a car when there is an accident. Accident investigation teams and technology have come a long way. If there are injuries the big guns come out because and Dan and Morgan guys will be in the middle of it.

FYI ... Wildwood has a traffic enforcement unit.

A Wildwood police officer who last year created a traffic enforcement unit has been selected as officer of the year.

Police Chief Randy Parmer said the officer “showed a propensity for traffic enforcement” when he created the unit last June.

Since then, he has made 381 traffic stops and issued 288 citations, including 89 for criminal violations. He has made 17 arrests and issued 113 verbal warnings. The officer who joined the department three and a half years ago, also was honored by the Wildwood American Legion post at a meeting Monday of the Wildwood City Commission.

Cars have sensors to monitor such things, plus GPS info to help detect the speed. They can also use skid marks to help determine the speed. But with the advent of ABS, that doesn't help much anymore. The only time I've locked up the brakes in my golf cart was on wet grass...

You've watched too many episodes of ChiPs if you think they're doing forensic investigations on golf cart accidents...

I'd be interested to know how many of those 288 citations resulted in fines actually paid - compared to how many were contested and dismissed, or nolled.

Mike&Silvia....you must attend the golf cart safety clinic for rules and regulations of the road. The REAL answers. It is given every month ( it's free). This month it is October 18 at Colony Cottage rec center 9AM. It could save your life or avoid expensive tickets. Also, since you are new here, also go to the new resident night....given Oct 10 also at Colony ( 7:00 PM- also free)