[DianeM]

Vehicular accidents are a shame but 13 in seven years involved in golf cart accidents is not A substantial number. Perhaps if golf carts were restricted to the golf courses those accidents might not have happened.

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by TheVillageChicken

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.

Now there is an absurd analogy.....but we need them now and then for humor.

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by DianeM

Vehicular accidents are a shame but 13 in seven years involved in golf cart accidents is not A substantial number. Perhaps if golf carts were restricted to the golf courses those accidents might not have happened.

And if they kept cars in parking lots they wouldn't have accidents in the round-a-bouts.

[John_W]

I can think of three where a seat belt wouldn't have helped. In 2011 a golf cart traveling on St. Charles in the golf cart lane, was wiped out by a grass cutting truck with trailer when they ran the stop sign at Tamarind Grove Run.

In 2011 before they had opened Buena Vista south of 466A, a fellow in his golf cart was sightseeing on BV about 9pm at night. It was summer, so there was some daylight, he did not have his headlights on and went the wrong way about a traffic circle and met a truck head on going the opposite way.

This past January an 85 year old had just stopped at his mail station on the older section of Morse. He was southbound in the golf cart lane when he turned left to cross Morse to enter Fuentez, he was hit head on by a mini-van in the northbound lane. Photo below.

[billybye]

Originally Posted by DianeM

Vehicular accidents are a shame but 13 in seven years involved in golf cart accidents is not A substantial number. Perhaps if golf carts were restricted to the golf courses those accidents might not have happened.

I think the numbers are skewed because most carts do not have belts, don't know if any of 13 would have survived with seat belts. I am not saying seat belts are not a good addition to all new carts sold, even if people don't use them.
You probably could do a survey and say most accidents in carts are because of not having seat belts. Because most carts do not have seat belts, does that mean anything?

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by SouthOfTheBorder

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.

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

There are a lot of questions that should be asked when statistics like this are tossed out.

Certainly how many miles are driven in golf carts over that period of time? How many golf carts are on the road? How many deaths in other types of vehicles have there been in the same time period? How many occurred in past year, two years, three years? Would those numbers show that the rate is improving?

The number per year over each of the past seven years is important. Thirteen is less than two per year. If three or four happened in the first year of the seven that would significantly reduce the number per year over the past five or six years. The fact that the past seven years is used, is, to me anyway, somewhat suspicious. Usually five or ten years would be used.

What were the circumstances of these deaths. Were any caused by the driver having a medical emergency like a stroke or heart attack while at the wheel?

How many were caused by speed? How many had anything to do with faulty infrastructure? How many were simply driver error that would have happened regardless of laws, signs, or infrastructure?

How many on a per capita basis have occurred in other golf cart communities?

You can make statistics say anything that you want. The first question I have is, Is thirteen a lot?

Some people might say that one death is unacceptable. I find that to be very unrealistic. When people are driving vehicles, accidents are going to happen. Human beings are imperfect. They make mistakes and have accidents. Some of those accidents are going to cause deaths. No one likes it, but the only way to completely eliminate golf cart related deaths is to eliminate golf carts.

Short of that, we have to come to the realization a a certain number of golf cart deaths is acceptable. The question is, how many? And the number has to be relative to the number of carts on the roadways and the number of miles driven.

[PaPaLarry]

Of these 13 fatalities, how many were on a cart path, off the road, and how many on a cart path on a road? Just curious!!

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by John_W

I can think of three where a seat belt wouldn't have helped. In 2011 a golf cart traveling on St. Charles in the golf cart lane, was wiped out by a grass cutting truck with trailer when they ran the stop sign at Tamarind Grove Run.

In 2011 before they had opened Buena Vista south of 466A, a fellow in his golf cart was sightseeing on BV about 9pm at night. It was summer, so there was some daylight, he did not have his headlights on and went the wrong way about a traffic circle and met a truck head on going the opposite way.

This past January an 85 year old had just stopped at his mail station on the older section of Morse. He was southbound in the golf cart lane when he turned left to cross Morse to enter Fuentez, he was hit head on by a mini-van in the northbound lane. Photo below.

I'm on your side, John, but from what I understand, Mr Francis Hughes who died in January expired because he was thrown from his cart and struck his head on the pavement. His cart never tipped over in spite of being hit head on by a van. It is generally thought that he would have lived had he been wearing a seat belt. On the other hand, he would have lived had he not turned his car into the front of a van moving in the opposite direction.

I think that seat belts are a good idea, but I wouldn't want to see them mandated by the government.

[xcaligirl]

Originally Posted by DianeM

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 was thinking the same thing. They need to post how many car related deaths there have been in the last 7 years in TV.

[joedi]

I feel if the people would SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION when driving there would be a decrease in accidents. I have had people drive around me because I wasn't going 30 MPH in golf cart or almost hit me head-on when they passed other golf carts because they were doing speed limit. They also drive to Fast with the cars and again do not pay attention.

[billethkid]

Looking to seat belts to be the solution to the problem is being somewhat naieve.

After driving with and among them for 11 years now it is very apparent the biggest contributor to the accident and death rate is the lack of control of the cart.

Carts are driven the most part with the pedal to the floor. The owners have no concept of decelleration until they find themselves either leaning too far into a turn or almost hitting someone. The manin reason far too many are in your half of the path coming out of a turn.

There is nothing going on that education and common sense cannot improve or cure.
We also know from similar behavior on the roadways that common sense, seatbelts, signs, etc have no effect on too many drivers.
Hence whatever the rate is....13 every seven years or whatever.....will continue.

[joedi]

I Agree!

[DianeM]

Originally Posted by joedi

I feel if the people would SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION when driving there would be a decrease in accidents. I have had people drive around me because I wasn't going 30 MPH in golf cart or almost hit me head-on when they passed other golf carts because they were doing speed limit. They also drive to Fast with the cars and again do not pay attention.

I'm sorry but if you are doing 20 MPH on the road that's meant to do 30 or 35, I am going to go around you. You should not be in the middle of automobile traffic.

As far as a decrease in accidents if everybody crawled down the road, going too slow is also dangerous as well.

[rubicon]

billethkid is spot on this is not a seat belt issue. Next time one of your neighbors boast that his/her cart can attain 30 mph remind them of the danger they place us all in

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by rubicon

billethkid is spot on this is not a seat belt issue. Next time one of your neighbors boast that his/her cart can attain 30 mph remind them of the danger they place us all in

Partially agree.....there is not one single issue but a combination of issues and seat belts are just one of them. Everyone touched on the others, speed, aggressive driving, diminished reactions and of course lack of enforcement. I for one would not drive without a seat belt because it's no big deal to buckle up and the consequences are worth the time. If you don't want to wear them, that's your choice and, I guess, you also make the choice for the person riding with you. As long as the insurance actuaries don't start increasing rates because of statistical stuff as they did when helmet laws went away I really don't care how you think of your friends and family.....it is your choice. Speed, aggressive driving, diminished reactions are not limited to golf carts, but, in cars the police address those issues. The police here, and the District, have no interest in enforcement.