Talk of The Villages Florida - My wife and I were almost killed tonight driving a golf cart, how common is this?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jrheydt (Post 517795)

I had a close call today in my golf cart. I was travelling thru the parking lot at Saddlebrook and was going to make a left turn to go into the tunnel. A pickup truck was coming from Buena Vista and was entering the parking lot. I didn't see him as there are bushes in the way along the side of the road. I started to make a left turn to go into the cart path into the tunnel when this pickup who was travelling in a right turn and I almost collided. I don't go this way much but this is a dangerous "intersection". Just wanted to warn people to be careful here.

Also today as we were returning from golf on Morse on the opposite side of the road there was a golf cart being driven by a minor who looked 10 years old. She definately was not 14. In the cart were her grandparents. Another example of grandparents who have no sense.

John

Send them up to Rio Grande in a couple of months to see me! :1rotfl::1rotfl:

I'm not making lite of this folks. It drives me crazy too, but we still L-O-V-E TV and don't want to be any other place (this side of heaven). I'm afraid it will only get worse as the population blooms to 105,000. That means defensive driving is the order of the day in both a car and golf cart.

John, I never understand why they plant shrubs so close to the corners, etc. and not keep them trimmed short so you can see over them. Having to pull halfway out to see oncoming traffic is down right scary. That happens, by the way, in every city. Glad you weren't involved in an accident.

During my LSV I wanted to see if a cart, roundabouts, traffic etc. would be a problem for me. I didn't get any bad feelings about it. I'm a cautious driver but accidents can happen anywhere. There was a lady killed here locally when a tree fell on her while she was walking on a green way walking path. Wrong place, wrong time.

I agree with all of the posts. Just beware there are a lot of crazy drivers no matter where you live. We have lived here for 6 years and are still alive and well. ha! Don't let the one incident scare you from living in Paradise.

A new day, and some sunshine to greet us. My wife is still upset but I am feeling better. I will have her read your responces. Thank you all for the good wishes. It is nice to know that people we don't even know care.

For more info, the driver was an older ( real old ) man who was not drinking. He told the police he had his foot on the brake and the car sped up. The officer noted that there were no skid marks and thus the driver must have mistaken the gas pedal for the brake. The good news is he also was OK, but he did look a bit dazed.

I hope my wife gets over this, as I like it here. As many of you noted anything can happen anywhere. When your time is up, it's up. But I need more time to check out all 2000 clubs here so I don't want to go yet. :thumbup:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorA (Post 517909)

Thank God up in heaven that everyone is alright. Wheeww. I bet it scared the bejebbies out of you all. The golf cart had nothing to do with the accident. Who knows, if you'd been in the car with the radio on and talking with the windows up, God forbid, you could both be dead now.

When you live in a retirement community with 80,000 plus people, the majority of whom are seniors, you had better drive very defensively. Accidents are going to happen.

87,000 people, most of whom are over 60 years of age with various physical problems - I think you can expect more of the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorA (Post 517577)

My wife and I just moved to The Villages last Tuesday. We�ve really enjoyed having dinner and meeting new friends at LSL town center; and have been considering living here full-time. We�ve also enjoyed driving around in the golf cart. Usually we take the tunnel by Sweetbay to get to LSL from The Village of Caroline. Driving that way, we�ve noticed that the golf cart path that usually leads directly to LSL road is blocked off; making you drive through the Sweetbay parking lot then taking Old Camp road (we think that�s what it�s called as we are still getting used to the street names) to get to LSL road.
Well, tonight we went to LSL to meet with some friends for dinner and we took the same path to get back home. Luckily we did not have any drinks and we were not in a hurry driving back home. As we were driving on Old Camp road to get to the Sweetbay parking lot, I noticed a white car that looked like it was coming up to us really fast on our right side -- it was speeding through the parking lot behind Bravo Pizza (the restaurant located on the corner of Old Camp road and Lake Sumter Landing road). Behind Bravo Pizza is a parking lot. There used to be an exit from that same parking lot that exited onto Old Camp road. However, the exit was blocked off and a curb was added, along with several bushes and some trees.
While we were driving down Old Camp road all of a sudden that same white car came crashing over the curb, through the hedges and trees and was flying 3-4 feet high in the air just a few feet in front of us where we would have been in another 3 seconds� we would have been decapitated! It all happened so fast that I didn�t even have time to react!
We called the police immediately. The firemen and policemen did a good job blocking off the area and getting the area secure pretty quickly. The car ran into some shrubs and a policeman said that the driver also ran into a Transformer and broke a gas line. The police officer said that he smelled gas and was concerned that they may have to evacuate the area due to the gas.
With this near death accident, my wife is scared about living here and is thinking that we should put the house up for sale and move.
:22yikes:
It is by the grace of G-D that we are still alive. There were also 6 teenagers walking on the sidewalk who also were literally seconds from being killed.
I am wondering:
How safe is it really to drive golf carts at night, in the squares with some people who may be too old to drive, and people drinking?
Are we getting to hear all these events or are they being covered up to protect the image of The Villages?
I would appreciate your comments and feedback. Especially from those of you who have been here for some time and have more insight into the area and maybe have some inside scoop.

Thank goodness you and your wife and teens were not hurt. May I ask what condition was the driver of the car in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorA (Post 517577)

How safe is it really to drive golf carts at night, in the squares with some people who may be too old to drive, and people drinking? I would appreciate your comments and feedback. Especially from those of you who have been here for some time.

I'm glad to hear that you're both OK.

We love the golf-cart lifestyle. However we use our cart primarily for golf and trips to local shopping during the daytime. (And on three occasions we've seen cars driving on the golf cart path!) We rarely drive our golf cart in the area of the Squares after dusk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorA (Post 517909)

I'm glad to hear your feeling better and in a couple of weeks, maybe your wife will too. I know I stayed upset for a while when I had an accident.

This too shall pass is a mottto I believe in.

Hang in there. It will get better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irish Rover (Post 517944)

87,000 people, most of whom are over 60 years of age with various physical problems - I think you can expect more of the same.

True. Everyone needs to pay attention when they drive...regardless of where they are driving. But when you are in a retirement community the size of TV, you need to be vigilant in your careful driving.

:agree:

Quote:

Originally Posted by justjim (Post 517752)

Seems to me this accident has everything to do with a car and nothing to do with riding around day or night in your golf cart. You could have been walking near the accident, as you indicated some were, just as easily as making your way home in a golf cart. We can't stop "living" just because bad accidents happen, otherwise, we would never leave our homes and interact with other people. You witnessed a bad accident......not your fault. Hopefully, the folks in the white car are also okay. I'm sure they are happy you or others were not hurt.

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!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarryRX (Post 517995)

:agree:

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorA (Post 517577)

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.