Talk of The Villages Florida - One person's golf cart speeding ticket story

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Why no responses from the violators, themselves?

It would seem that this thread would provoke a response(s) from anyone who actually experienced this type of sheriff/violator contact. It seems these comments are always relayed by others, not the actual person cited.

The police don't ticket every automobile that goes 3 mph over the speed limit. They realize that everyone's speedometer may not be calibrated quite the same, the police radar detectors may not be calibrated exactly, and so on. There is always a little leeway. The intent of the law is to keep people traveling at a safe speed. In a golf cart 29 mph is not a safe speed, but IMHO 22-23 mph is no big deal.

To put things in perspective, at 29 mph in a golf cart one is exceeding the 20 mph speed limit by 45%. That would be like speeding in a car at 101.5 mph in a 70 mph zone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by buggyone (Post 662233)

It was not real clear (to me) in the OP that the golf cart speeder going 29 mph was on a roadway and NOT a multi-modal trail.

Remember, the police do not have jurisdiction on the multi-modal trails for speeders.

If a golf cart was speeding along a public roadway at 29 mph, they should be picked up. The Florida laws say a golf cart is not to travel over 20 mph or it is not a golf cart. The insurance is pretty clear on that, also. If you are in an accident with your cart and going over 20 mph, your insurance may not pay off on the accident and you will be up the creek without your bank account.

It was posted by the OP that she was in the diamond lane which is only on the road not the multi- modal paths

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 662299)

To put things in perspective, at 29 mph in a golf cart one is exceeding the 20 mph speed limit by 45%. That would be like speeding in a car at 101.5 mph in a 70 mph zone!

Mathematically that is correct. Logically, I don't agree with you. You're comparing apples and oranges. Do you really see a big difference from a golf cart going 20 mph vs. a golf cart going 22 or 23 mph? I don't. And unless your speedometer and the police radar detector are calibrated exactly perfectly, they can't reasonably expect to measure such a small difference accurately. Automobile speedometers can be off by as much as 10%, so one could expect similar results in a golf cart speedometer. Police radar guns are warranted to plus or minus 1 mph even if the gun is properly calibrated, so to give someone a ticket for going 2 or 3 mph over the limit - there is obviously room for error. The angle at which the radar gun is pointed also will affect the reading, which could give a variance of another 1 mph or so.

Thanks for the post. It's Florida but I will have to find a pair of pants if I ever have to go to court.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tag460 (Post 662485)

Thanks for the post. It's Florida but I will have to find a pair of pants if I ever have to go to court.

I was just thinking the same thing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CFrance (Post 662046)

I have a friend. She has a golf cart. She was driving downhill on a diamond lane and got clocked at 29mph. Stopped by the sheriff and issued a citation. There was no amount on the citation. I now think that was because it wasn't actually a speeding ticket so much as it was a violation, having an unregistered golf cart that was exceeding 20 mph, or whatever that limit is.

Since there was no fine amount stipulated, she had to go to court. I posted that here, and some asked to hear the results. I have received her permission to report the results of her court appearance. I do not remember where the court was.

1. She was wearing shorts. There was a sign on the door that the wearing of shorts was not allowed in the court. Of course, nowhere was that written on the citation, and no way anyone would have known of this. This is Florida, after all, so people were wearing shorts. After much hullabalu, the shorts group was told they would be seen but had to wait till the end of the docket (a few hours).

2. My friend had a certificate from her cart maintenance company that she had, after the citation, had a governor installed that would not allow her cart to exceed the legal limit. The sheriff who issued the citation had told her that if she did this, the fine would probably be limited to court costs.

3. In the end, the fine was limited to court costs. A little under $250. She went to write a check; they don't take checks. Cash, money order, or credit card. Having not enough cash nor money order, she offered her Visa. There was a 2.37% surcharge for paying by credit card. Of course, that upped the price.

4. After you pay the court costs, you are considered "on probation." Want to get off probation? Go to another building a block down the street and pony up an additional $50. And oh, they will only accept money orders. However, you can go across the street to the pharmacy, and for $1, they will issue you a money order, which you then take back across the street and get yourself off of probation. $300+ total. I am not offering an opinion here! Just relating the story.

5. An anecdote: There was a handicapped man who was cited for going 23mph in his cart. He missed his court date by one day. When he showed up the day my friend was there, but earlier in the day, they handcuffed him, arrested him, and put him in jail for 7 hours until his wife could get down there to bail him out. Then he was in court in an orange prison suit. (but at least it wasn't shorts...) He related this story to my friend.

I am only posting this from an informational standpoint, because someone earlier had asked a question about my friend's ticket. This is ONLY an iteration of what transpired when she went to court. You all can draw your own conclusions and offer opinions, but I am just the messenger. Please don't shoot me. ;)

I find it strange that you recall so many things in detail, yet you don't remember the court location. It could have only been one of the counties. Is this whole story satire and you having fun....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren Kiefer (Post 662523)

I find it strange that you recall so many things in detail, yet you don't remember the court location. It could have only been one of the counties. Is this whole story satire and you having fun....

I didn't recognize the name of the court location, and so it didn't stick with me. If you think I am making this up, go speeding downhill in your golf cart in front of the sheriff. See for yourself what happens. (Wear long pants.)

Where did she find that much of a hill in Florida? She had to have had the pedal to the metal and no governor.

She could have ended up in Boot Hill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 662558)

Where did she find that much of a hill in Florida? She had to have had the pedal to the metal and no governor.

She could have ended up in Boot Hill.

Could be... I only asked for the court info. I wasn't going to embarrass her by prying more into what she did wrong and why she did it. There are quite a few hills in TV. They may be long and gradual, but you could build up speed, IMO.

Again, the purpose of the post was to impart information about the procedures when you have to go to court.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulandjean (Post 662118)

Funny, I do not see any of the people who posted about golf cart speeding and just take your medicine comments here. I rest my case.Cha-Ching.Fun getting old.......

Oh snap! :D

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 662558)

Where did she find that much of a hill in Florida? She had to have had the pedal to the metal and no governor.

She could have ended up in Boot Hill.

I did a test tonight when picking up dinner. We headed south on Odell (between Mallory and Havana) starting at Stillwater . There are two pretty good downhill stretches.

I was in a cart that is built to not exceed 20 MPH, but it is a series motor, so no regen breaking and it rolls free. At the top of the each down hill I was going 19ish. At the crest I let off the go pedal and coasted. On both hills I reached a speed of 23ish.

I suspect if I had pedal to the medal it would be much faster down the hill. If you have that type of car and I see many older Club Cars out there, sounds like you need to be aware of your speed downhill even if the cart if built to only go 19ish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVMayor (Post 662155)

If your job was to catch speeders would you take your radar gun to the top of the hill or the bottom?

The law does not say 20mph on level ground and down hill is optional.

If the law said max 20 round clip 23 or 27 is not close enough.

The law does not talk about a speed limit. The law defines a golf cart as a vehicle that goes up to 19.9 mph, can be driven on certain streets in specified lanes and does not have to be registered and does not require safety equipment such as a solid windshield, windshield wipers and seat belts. A cart that goes 20 mph is define as a low speed vehicle and must be registered if it is driven on streets and must have all of the same safety equipment as a car.

The story about the court sounds like what goes on the The Philippines. Every time you go to some government office it's no shorts and no sandals. Everyone there wears shorts and sandals almost everywhere. They stand at the door and stop you from coming in. I did notice however that many of the female employees were wearing sandals. There is often a little store across the street that sells used pants socks and shoes.
Then when you getin, you go to whatever window you need to go to they always require a certain number of photo copies of whatever you are submitting. There is always, very conveniently, someone on the other side of the room with a copy machine doing a brisk business for 3 peos a copy.
Then you are sent to a "lawyer" to have the form that you filled out refilled out "correctly" by a lawyer. So you go to the lawyer who fills out the form exactly the same way that you did, but you pay him 300 pesos and bring the form back. Then you are sent to another window where you pay a few hundred pesos for another form that you bring back to the first window.
It's one of the main reasons that I moved back here. I hope that our government doesn't turn to that way of doing business.