[Cantwaittoarrive]

Originally Posted by JourneyOfLife

I see. Some have adapted and use their golf carts as their primary mode of daily transportation.

If those paths originally created for recreational or leisure use, they are not designed for how some are using them.

The solution for congested roads is to widen them (add a new lane) in the worst areas.

You need to visit, most use their carts as primary mode of transportation and it's not the "paths" that are in question, it's the public roads

[Sparty6971]

Originally Posted by BobandMarilyn

. . . it seemed reasonable to check for myself. I spoke to Lt. Nehemiah Wolfe, the Villages District Supervisor at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, regarding the law on this matter.

Great posting! Lt Wolfe IS a great guy and a wonderful person to get the straight stuff from. Thanks for taking the initiative to ask "the man" and give us a report from him. I'm sure the OP and his club president thought certain what they heard was correct but sometimes we get things filtered a bit too much. It's happened to all (or at least most) of us.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by buggyone

It also applies only when a police officer is around!

There you go! Just don't test out your theories in front of a cop and you'll never have to find out. Plus..I have a feeling that the cops have more to do than track down & bust errant golf cart captains, unless this is a push by the county to rake in some extra money.

[calgone]

Old villages wives tale. Not true.

[gustavo]

Originally Posted by John_W

I have a Yamaha gas cart and with just myself and one bag of clubs I can do 25mph, but I found the Yamaha runs smoothest at 22mph and handles best. I think it's a disservice to the manufacturer and the operator and also a safety issue to not allow a gas golf cart to operate at 22mph. With carts operating everywhere from rentals at 14mph to retuned carts going 25mph it can cause a hazard. On our interstates we usually have two or sometimes 3 or 4 lanes to separate traffic, here we are limited to one lane of golf cart traffic.


.

Bump someone traveling 3 mph with your cart that can go 25 mph. When the passenger in the other cart demands to be taken to the hospital be ready to cover all those bills as your cart is not legally a golf cart and your insurance co will hang you out to dry by yourself.

[GatorFan]

The VHA does a golf cart safety meeting the 3rd Wednesday at the Savannah Center every month. 10:00 am.....Sumter, Lake and Marion law enforcement is there to answer all your questions.

[George Bieniaszek]

I think that the sheriff's department must have gotten many complaints of unsafe lane changes or carts jumping into the vehicle lanes to pass carts without signaling or slowing up traffic because their cart could go a half a mile per hour faster than the cart they were passing.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by JourneyOfLife

What's the hurry... your retired!


A little courtesy can go a long way.

Work it like farmers do with their tractors on rural roads.... if they are backing up traffic, they find a spot to pullover and let faster traffic go past them.

Obviously you have not lived here when declaring this stuff about "what's the hurry...you're retired!"

First of all, The Villages, like any city runs on a schedule, and there are thousands of people working and attending scheduled meetings, classes, sports events, and consultations with professionals here.

Reasonable people want to travel at the speed limit of 19.5 mph for carts, not 5 mph slower!!

When somebody is puddlin' along in the diamond lanes in one of the slow rental carts at 15mph or slower and the rest of cart traffic is going 19.5, reasonable people want/need to pass them. Most people are going somewhere for a purpose, not just sight-seeing.

The same problem shows up with people who insist on walking in a diamond lane when there is a sidewalk built for walking right beside them (and the curbs are not step downs or ups....they are sloped up/down). But many walkers will not move over, nor onto the sidewalk, when golf carts behind them cannot pass them because of the solid white line, and cars/trucks beside them on their left. Obviously the diamond lanes in the street are made for faster speeds than walking--for which the sidewalks are made--but walkers insist on walking in the street diamond lanes anyway, and golf carts cannot pass them.

It's not unreasonable to want to drive at the speed limit in a diamond lane in the street!!!!

[memason]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

Obviously you have not lived here when declaring this stuff about "what's the hurry...you're retired!"

First of all, The Villages, like any city runs on a schedule, and there are thousands of people working and attending scheduled meetings, classes, sports events, and consultations with professionals here.

Reasonable people want to travel at the speed limit of 19.5 mph for carts, not 5 mph slower!!

When somebody is puddlin' along in the diamond lanes in one of the slow rental carts at 15mph or slower and the rest of cart traffic is going 19.5, reasonable people want/need to pass them. Most people are going somewhere for a purpose, not just sight-seeing.

The same problem shows up with people who insist on walking in a diamond lane when there is a sidewalk built for walking right beside them (and the curbs are not step downs or ups....they are sloped up/down). But many walkers will not move over, nor onto the sidewalk, when golf carts behind them cannot pass them because of the solid white line, and cars/trucks beside them on their left. Obviously the diamond lanes in the street are made for faster speeds than walking--for which the sidewalks are made--but walkers insist on walking in the street diamond lanes anyway, and golf carts cannot pass them.

It's not unreasonable to want to drive at the speed limit in a diamond lane in the street!!!!

ha ha ha....I had to laugh about the walkers in the diamond lanes. You're exactly right, that they will [sometimes] not yield to carts.

Can you imagine the posts, on here, should someone get caught driving their cart on the sidewalk ???

[notlongnow]

My guess is that residents are getting tired of golf cart drivers acting like cowboys which is a consideration given that we have some 50,000 golf carts. You would have thought that planning for a community with its primary mode of traffic being golf carts that better design and rules would have been established in the early planning stages.

I altered my golf cart to go from 27mph to 19.9mph two years go and it has not created a time when i was late for any appointment.

I oftne ride the golf cat paths before sun up and can tell you there are some real cowboys out there and based on their action seem to have no idea of the hazards they are creating for thmselves and others given blinding lights, dark and hidden areas and people walking without reflectors.

I would just like to say that "cowboys" are some of the most considerate and courteous people on the planet.

This "cowboy" will be there next week for a few days and will drive very careful because of reading this thread.
Maybe the slower drivers could pull to the right at road intersections like a passing lane only they move over and the passer just stays in the lane. Just thinking out loud.
Just sayin'

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

Obviously you have not lived here when declaring this stuff about "what's the hurry...you're retired!"

<stuff cut out by alan>
The same problem shows up with people who insist on walking in a diamond lane when there is a sidewalk built for walking right beside them (and the curbs are not step downs or ups....they are sloped up/down). But many walkers will not move over, nor onto the sidewalk, when golf carts behind them cannot pass them because of the solid white line, and cars/trucks beside them on their left. Obviously the diamond lanes in the street are made for faster speeds than walking--for which the sidewalks are made--but walkers insist on walking in the street diamond lanes anyway, and golf carts cannot pass them.

It's not unreasonable to want to drive at the speed limit in a diamond lane in the street!!!!

OK, not the diamond lane but.....

Just in the last few weeks I have had two encounters with walkers that just leave me shaking my head. This was on multi modal paths. The first was four people walking next to each other WITH (going the same direction as) traffic. Each cart had to stop, then the walkers would move over and go back to walking 4 abreast after the cart passed. A week later two people were walking WITH traffic side-by-each (as they say in Fall Reever). They just walk along without a clue that they are impeding traffic.

SHARE the path means SHARE the path? Ok... I am done whining for now....

[JourneyOfLife]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

Obviously you have not lived here when declaring this stuff about "what's the hurry...you're retired!"

---

There is a style of joking that is referred to as a "wry sense of humor".

You will see it from time to time in my posts.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

OK, not the diamond lane but.....

Just in the last few weeks I have had two encounters with walkers that just leave me shaking my head. This was on multi modal paths. The first was four people walking next to each other WITH (going the same direction as) traffic. Each cart had to stop, then the walkers would move over and go back to walking 4 abreast after the cart passed. A week later two people were walking WITH traffic side-by-each (as they say in Fall Reever). They just walk along without a clue that they are impeding traffic.

SHARE the path means SHARE the path? Ok... I am done whining for now....

AJ, do golf carts have horns? If not, West Marine has excellent air horns. (Okay, sorry sorry...)

[crummybuttons]

It's about time! I've often wondered why everyone is in such a hurry. Riddle me that one!!!

Originally Posted by vj1213

This was passed along at our monthly village social last night by our president who spoke with a member of the sheriffs dept. They are going to start cracking down on golf carts. If you are traveling down a street in the golf cart lane behind a slower cart or bicycle and you pull into the traffic lane to pass, you can be ticketed. Tickets will run in excess of $100 - $150.
Now I'm just the messenger...not trying to start rumors...so if you don't agree, feel free to check for yourself.

[BobnBev]

Originally Posted by CFrance

AJ, do golf carts have horns? If not, West Marine has excellent air horns. (Okay, sorry sorry...)

I have one of those.............very effective.