:agree:

Glad you're OK!
 

We're glad you both, and the teens, are all right. That reminded me of when my dad drove for the last time... He thought he had his foot on the brake, and accidentally pressed the accelerator. Luckily, he "only" hit a truck carrying Johnny-on-the-spots (portable toilets), and not another car or a person. It was so scary! When I asked his Dr. to tell Dad he should no longer drive, the Dr. "wimped out" and made me do it. That's a long story, but luckily he was never on the road again. It sounds like a similar thing happened to the man driving the car you encountered. And perhaps he doesn't have family or a Dr. to take his keys away!

We will be permanent residents there in about 5 weeks, and this has made us (well, really me!) reconsider not driving a golf car at night. I hope you can convince your wife not to move! Maybe we'll meet you both at one of the 2,000 clubs!

Gail (& Paul)

Firstly, I am relieved that you, your wife and the teens you saw were not hurt. The driver as well. However, anytime you have a "town" of almost 90,000 people, accidents are bound to happen. It could have been in any town in any state. It just happened to you while you were in TV. I certainly hope that this one unfortunate incident will not deter you from your initial impressions of a wonderful way of life. There are so many awesome and caring people who live there, and now that includes the 2 of you!

I was just about to post this same thing almost word for word. This kind of thing could have happened anywhere and as you pointed out there were some teenagers walking in the area that could have been injured or killed as well.

If this causes you to be afraid of driving your golf cart around here then you'd better not walk around here, or anywhere else for that matter.

My G-D man (I like that. I guess you can see the G. word.)

The villages is a community of over 80,000 people. In a similar population how many accidents of that type more or less do you expect you will find? I think you would find more than here in the villages. Perhaps they would not involve golf carts they may involve bicycles or pedestrians or other cars. The villages is no more dangerous than anyplace else and if you have a problem wondering whether it's safe to live in the villages you probably have a similar problem living anywhere.

Stick around a while, it used to the way things are done around here and you'll probably continue to avoid the bad results that can happen from other people's occasional failures.

I'm not trying to blame the victim and just saying don't gloat too far out of proportion. Might've missed your undies little bit but you will no doubt live many more days in perfect health.

Just my opinion for what it may mean.

A voice of reason :BigApplause:

Data
 

Did I miss something or did anyone see hear or read who the other driver in the white car was?

Did someone pass out from a serious illness? Meds? Alcohol? or was it youth messing around?

Glad you did not have any serious injury to you or your wife.

H

Herv, You missed the part about the very old man stepping on the gas instead of brake. Time for your new glasses! :laugh:

Now that is scary!

It is scary when you're driving a golf cart on the cart path, and you see an auto coming toward you, or overtaking from behind. I'm willing to bet that most peeps that have lived in The Bubble for a few years have witnessed a car taking the golf cart path!

This past winter, we saw somebody trying to wedge their CRV onto the cart path across the street from the Colony rec center. There were enough carts coming at him/her that they quickly figured out the error of their ways, back out onto the street, and drove away.......on the street!

Bill :)

I AM SO SORRY YOU HAD THIS EXPERIENCE. I too thank God that no one was hurt. I don't know what to tell you about how common it is but when you figure that there are 50000 plus carts in the villages we really don't have too many wrecks. From what I read, it seems that even had you been in a car , with unfortunate timing, you would have been injured. One remark that I hear a lot is , "I am going to take the cart since I intend to drink." I am still trying to figure that one out. Maybe some DUIs for carts are in order. I don't drink for the following reason. I get impaired with a small amount of liquor. I consider it my responsibility to keep myself sober, especially when driving.
I have no problem with people who choose to drink, just those that drink and drive...anything. Since you did not mention the police saying there was alcohol involved, I guess this was just getting confused with the change. This could possibly happen to many people. It is so important to drive defensively. The casual laid back atmosphere of the Villages cannot extend to driving. I for one would like to spend more time in this paradise before moving to the next one!!! I praise God for your escaping injury.

More Cart accidents, than you can imagine. You won't read about them in the local paper. My observation on the individuals are "Villagers" with an attitude, bringing there bad driving habits here, and so many grandchildren now in july, they are just crazy behind the wheel, even last night 4 young ones 15-18 doing wheelies, when I drove past them, a heavy smell of alcohol.
P.S. "Villagers with an attitude" can park anywhere, on sidewalks, on grass, you name it they will park.

Drive defensibly!

Reminds me of the time I was going through the Mallory tunnel and a car was coming the other way through the tunnel! Talk about scary! I yelled at him..."Men drivers!" and shook my head at him.

LOVE to go places in my golf cart! But.....we all have to be careful....and remember....this accident was caused by a car, not a golf cart!

On a funnier note....my 84 year old mother has moved to TV from Kissimmee.....she is more frightened of driving here than she was on John Young Parkway, the Osceola Parkway and hwy 192~ Go figure!

TV is FL friendliest home town until some get behind the wheel.

Moving because of a near accident is like moving because a home was hit by lightning. One it is rare and two it can happen anyplace.

btk

I do think it is difficult to drive in the Villages when I make the assumption that as we all get older it is harder to be as vigilant as we once were. I would tell your wife to give it a year before she thinks about moving. Maybe use the cart in your village and then short runs out side. Use the car to go to the squares. Accidents can happen any place and a cart does offer less protection, but that will be true in any community you move too.

From the other posters regarding the 15-18 yr olds, the old age thing doesn't really wash. I think as people age, their reflexes may slow but most realize it and drive accordingly, regardless of the mode of transportation. Granted, there are some people of all ages who have no business driving anything.

if you would have been in your car when they came crashing thru it may not have been any better. Give your wife a while she may change her mind and not move

Does anybody know what The Villages Daily Sun reported about this accident? Were there any charges filed against the driver?

Too many drivers in this area, whether in a golf cart or car or truck, either don't know the traffic laws, choose to ignore the laws, or don't care one way or another. If people in authority and the drivers of all Villages and VCCD vehicles were to demonstrate legal and proper driving techniques on a regular basis, they could provide positive examples for others to follow, and thereby make The Villages a safer place to live. The Official Florida Driver's Handbook would be good reading for all.

Please let us know where and when this happened. Thank you.

Glad to hear you were unharmed. But I have to ask, if a similar accident happened in your previous hometown would you be in such a hurry to want to sell the house and move? Anyway, what you witnessed was an anomoly. Yes there are accidents for many of the reasons that everyone has noted, that's why they are called accidents because I don't anybody is intentionally trying to have one.

Please, tell us where this happened. I can not find anything about this accident in the Orlando or Leesburg papers, either.

The loss of a child is a parents' worse nightmare. My prayers will be offered.

There is no law that residents must drive golf cart in the Villages, yes. So whatever we drive, it needs to be defensively whether in Tampa, Chicago, or east LA. The focus must be on driving, if not accidents will happen. DoctorA, glad you were doing just that!

You saw this??
Why is it that a search of the Orlando Sentinel, the Leesburg Daily Commercial and the WFTV web site say nothing about a death in The Villages.
Where did you get your information??

I am so sorry to hear that you had to suffer through such a scary experience. I hope that it does not cause you to sell and leave TV. Hopefully it will just emphasize how important it is to drive defensively here in TV (whether in a cart OR a car).

I just found this thread and have not read through all 60+ posts, but I am sure that many others have undergone similar scary experiences.

I just experienced my first such incident a few days ago (and we've been here for a year). My wife and I were driving our street legal cart on El Camino Real during the day. A small car got right up on our tail and followed so closely I was seriously concerned for our safety. After tailgating for about 1/2 mile, the driver zipped in front of us and purposely cut us off (and then slowed down) to the point that I had to swerve slightly off the road to avoid a collision. Once I got back on the road I saw that the same driver was stuck at the light at Camino Real and Bottelo, turning into our Village! I sped up and followed the driver to her home. I really wasn't looking for an incident or confrontation, but my wife wanted to tell the driver that she almost caused a serious accident. My wife was very nice about it (much nicer than I would have been) and the woman's response was "you shouldn't be on the road with your golf cart." My wife said "our cart is street legal and that we were legally allowed to drive on the street." The woman said, "I don't see any seat belts," at which point my wife and I both showed her we were wearing our seatbelts. At this point my wife finally told her that she was a danger on the road. The woman then called my wife an idiot and closed her garage door. Sometimes I question the whole "America's Friendliest Hometown" thing, as this woman was not only a menace on the road, but also a rude and nasty human being. A simple apology would have been more than enough, but instead she felt it necessary to justify her crazy driving. I am not going to sweat it as i am a big believer in karma.

Somebody confused???? If not, I am saddened by this news.

Shuda gone with the 20mm option

Time to back up your post with some factual information!

I don't know, but I think news like this would travel fast and we would have heard about it within hours of it happening so my guess is that someone is mistaken or trying to create a stir.

You are probably right, but a poor way to start a stir.

Yes it is.

when we first moved here we were driving in out golf cart and coming out of the tunnel and this lady came fryling at us because she had her dong in the back and she turned around because he was baking she came right at us it was a good thing that my husband saw her coming right at us or we would have been in a accident..I think some of the people down here are just not paying attention to what they are doing..I little more cencern about other would be nice...We have to be aware of everything around us...Happy that you and your wife were not hurt..But on the other hand it is pretty safe down here.....

What was your dog baking? Doggie treats? Brownies?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist..

Sadly, this happened last night.

Villages golf-cart death: Villages resident - Orlando Sentinel

After leaving the frozen tundra..we came to Florida to experience better driving conditions. After honing our skills on glare ice, (unseen) frost ,snow, ice,water logged roadways driving in Florida will be a piece of cake.

What a surprize ! For excitement go to Orlando: Driving mistakes abound! driving down the "free"way their are 4 lanes of excitement in front and 4 lanes behind. As stealers wheel song said "Clowns to the left of me ,Jokers on the right,stuck on the middle with you!"

Ever heard of a signal? Merge into traffic?

Watch the news after the murders there is the trauma of driving in Orlando Every day there is chaos because ....there is a CURVE in the road! 4 car crack up and traffic backed up for miles!

I will bet that the Villages Daily Sun will cover this tragedy.

Sad story BUT this is not what was originally posted..it appears there were no grandchildren involved

Yes, people have been killed in golf carts.
 

Yesterday my golfing buddy told me he was passed in the tunnel going to Laurel Manor. Sure enough the passer crashed head on into a cart entering the tunnel. That's a new one to me, passing in tunnels. Safe in a golf cart -no. I see many accidents never reported.
When I first came here about 7 years ago we had a head on between two carts in front of Palmer on the curve with a death and serious injuries Another one was two ladies who went over the bridge 441 and their cart hit a rough patch, cart turned over and one lady died.
One where the cart was doing about 32 and hit on the curbing where the path was dividing and the guy was killed.
I can be driving at max at 19.5 and have carts past me like I'm standing still.
And for all you saying its so safe, you're safe right up until you have your first accident.