Because I like you!

'Cause you don't know me. I'm a knuckle dragging grumpy old man....self-absorbed, and mean.

What safety equipment is required on a low speed vehicle?

Any low speed vehicle must be equipped with standard safety equipment.

...section 316.2122, Florida Statutes, authorizes the operation of "low-speed vehicles" on specified public roads and requires that such vehicles be equipped with "headlamps, stop lamps, turn signal lamps, taillamps, reflex reflectors, parking brakes, rearview mirrors, windshields, seat belts, and vehicle identification numbers."[9]





Source: Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

Golf Cart and LSV Questions & Answers - Golf Cart Safety

That sounds like 99% of us......:grumpy:

The windshield must be classified as AS1 or AS4. They do sell hinged down windshields that are of both specifications. I had not looked into this for sometime and a few years ago the biggest problem to the conversion of a golf cart to an LSV was finding a windshield that qualified. When I went back and looked into it today they are readily available. As solid or hinged. The problem with doing the conversion and spending the money plus the increased cost of insurance is its not cost effective unless you use it all the time. It will take you awhile to recoup your investment by using a low speed vehicle as compared to using your auto if all you want to do is cross 441/27 so you can get to Spanish Springs for shopping or the restaurants. You'll also sacrifice some safety because lets face it, if there is an accident between an auto and Golf Cart, who is coming out the winner?

I don't think that there was ever an issue with anyone not allowing Villages residents to cross their property to access the Lowes and Wal-Mart areas. The properties between the Paradise Dr gate and Lowes are owned by the medical center and the new assisted living facility both of whom have never had a problem with Villages residents crossing their land. I think that they find it beneficial to their businesses to do so.

The path between Aldi and Wal-Mart is owned by an electric company, Duke, I think. They shut down the path for a short while about a year ago when Duke bought out Progress Energy. They opened it after a brief period after they received a multitude of complaints. I think that they thought it was in their best interested public relations-wise.

The land that the Paradise Gate sits on was owned by The Villages and was given to the CDD during the whole controversy last year. The Villages and or the CDD decided that they didn't want non-residents to use that property to access The Villages with golf carts. That is their prerogative. They have every right to allow or not allow whomever they wish to use their property for whatever reason.

Could the medical facility, assisted living facility and Duke Energy decide to not allow golf carts on their property? Sure, and there's nothing anyone in The Villages could do about it. Do the people who own the Paradise Gate property have an obligation to allow outsiders access to The Villages cart paths though that property? Absolutely not and there is nothing that outsiders and do about that.

The issue is that the people who can allow access either way have their own interest at heart and it happens to work to the benefit of Villages residents who want to access Lowes. Aldi, the medical facility, the assisted living facility, Wal-Mart and everything else over that way. It is to the disadvantage to the people outside The Villages who want to come in by golf cart.

The people wanting access by golf cart in either direction have no choice in the matter and are at the mercy of the people that own those properties. As long as it is in the interest of those businesses to have golf cart access and good public relations the situation will remain as it is. As long as The Villages or the CDD owns the Paradise Gate lot and feel that it is in the best interest of The Villages or the CDD outsiders will not have golf cart access to The Villages no matter how any of the golf cart operators feel about the issue.

I have no knowledge of any specifics, but I have a feeling Mr Brown may have another motive for wanting to initate golf cart crossings from his property on 1 side of TV to his property near the assisted living center. As I think I read on another site, he may be planning to build something on the site that would be beneficial for him to publicize that it has golf cart access to TV. I believe I also read somewhere that he had promised access from the assisted living center to TV, and caught some problems with that. Feel free to let me know if that is not true. I can't imagine any other reason anyone would be willing to go to court or threaten a possible law suit just to have golf cart access to a property.

If it was just Mr. Brown wanting access by golf cart, I don't think many Villagers would be upset by the number of just him. But right is right, and if you don't live in TV, and pay the ammenity fees, you have no right to use the multi-modal pathways. We are not trying to be mean to the residents of SC, and Spruce Creek, even though some use every opportunity to criticize us and call us mean and selfish, and use deceit to try to gain access of the MM paths. But if anyone goes back to where TV is still building houses, that area looks to me large enough to build another couple of thousand houses, not to mention the 2000+ houses yet to be built in Fruitland park. If TV allowed golf cart access to ANYONE, then EVERYONE surrounding would expect the same priviledges. The MM paths are already WAY TOO crowded in the winter.....and actually during the shoulder seasons. TV is far or will be far exceeding a comfortable number of residents in the next couple of years--or sooner, and both the roads and the MM paths will reflect that.

Well said. I can add one note about the Duke Energy property since the Developer here at Stonecrest did a great deal of work getting Wal-Mart and Duke to talk to each other. Stonecrest Residents were a bit up in arms when Duke started to close the path down as it would have prevented us from accessing the businesses South of there. Duke started to close the path as I understand it because there were people that sent Duke an invoice for Cart Repairs because they did some damage to their cart as they traveled over the bumpy path. That is what instigated the path closure. I'm sure the Lawyers then told them how they could be liable and it went from there. They used to update us on the negotiations between the two parties but I have not seen anything for sometime now. I think its one of those items that just faded into the background. It could come to the fore front again should there be some sort of incident there. I noticed that some people started to travel on the Western Side of the bushes close to the Substation fence trying to get a smoother ride. There are No Trespassing signs there and if they continue to do that they are going to get Duke upset again. Its a rough ride there, go slow, what's the rush and be careful. It serves us all to keep that path open.

I know for myself I'm quite happy with what I have access to now via Golf Cart. There are some still trying to get access via a cart crossing there at the Hospital. Like I said earlier not having access via Golf Cart to Spanish Springs saved me money. There are some that purchased Street Legal Vehicles so they can still cross. I do not see the advantage $$ wise. Just the increase in the insurance alone is about 20 gallons of gas per year and I have not even put in the increased cost of the cart itself. 20 gallons of gas and it takes my car about a half a gallon for a round trip if I'm going to one of the Restaurants there or one of the Grocery Stores. That's 40 round trips per year plus a safer vehicle, its a no brainer choice for me, drive the car, its more comfortable, safer, quieter, an quicker.