[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by Mlr4343

Been discussing this in our neighborhood for a week or so and yes it is illegal to pass while in the diamond lane, according to the Sheriffs office. I called both the sheriff and local police and confirmed. No exceptions for a golf cart to pass ANY other cart, bike, trike, etc. Hard to believe. Sent an email to Don Wiley asking if Commissioners could address it but he’s indicated it’s a state traffic law and they can’t. Not sure where to go from here

The most ridiculous part is - say you are in the golf cart lane headed south, you want to make a left turn into a street on the northbound side of the street. There is no break in the solid line for you on the southbound side so technically it is illegal for you to cross the line to make your turn. Buuuut if you wait for a break in the line where a street intersects from your right you can then pull out legally. What a bunch of crap and I believe beatable in court due to inconsistencies

[rrtjp]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed

Ok. Now the elephant in the room…..Top speed on my cart is 20 mph. I do see it reach 21 mph downhill or in a strong tailwind. EVERYBODY passes me. Should I “adjust” that little spring so I can increase speed by 5 mph?! Probably illegal but it would help a lot of cart drivers behind me better avoid a ticket. A conundrum.

I’m not saying how fast my cart will go, lol. I typically drive around 14 or 15 mph, sometimes slower if I’m just driving around the neighborhood. If someone wants to pass me I pull over when I can and let them pass. I’m never in a hurry to get anywhere. A wise man once said “life moves pretty fast if you don’t slow down and look around once in awhile you just might miss it”. That being said, I like that if I need to pass a very slow biker or walker I can do so quickly and safely then return back to my “Sunday driver” typical speed of 14, 15 mph. IMHO it’s better to have a little extra speed and not need it than to need it and not have it. As far as being illegal to adjust your governor ? You have a better chance at winning the lottery than being pulled over in your cart for speeding. I have never seen any speed traps set up here for golf carts. Drive with caution and have respect for others that share the road or path with you, simple as that, common sense.

[CosmicTrucker]

So our sheriff thinks it’s perfectly safe to stop dead in the middle of the road waiting to turn left but quickly passing a slow vehicle is not. Ring a ding ding.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Larchap49

The most ridiculous part is - say you are in the golf cart lane headed south, you want to make a left turn into a street on the northbound side of the street. There is no break in the solid line for you on the southbound side so technically it is illegal for you to cross the line to make your turn. Buuuut if you wait for a break in the line where a street intersects from your right you can then pull out legally. What a bunch of crap and I believe beatable in court due to inconsistencies

Already been covered in a few previous posts.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by wamley

If the Sheriff said it's a violation, why not ask him to quotes the Statute that would appear on the ticket the Deputy Sheriff would put on the ticket you would receive for the violation he/she is citing you for. Typically in Vehicle and Traffic laws vehicles cannot cross solid white lines unless its to avoid an accident.

See post #41 which may have been submitted while you were writing this.

[justjim]

“I have never seen any speed traps set up here for golf carts”. Post #47. I haven’t seen any for a couple of years but there were some a few years prior. There have been approximately a dozen fatalities while in golf carts but none that I heard were caused by speeding. Most tickets are for failing to stop at a stop sign. There are police watching, especially, in the Fruitland Park section of The Villages.

[blueash]

The section of law on the ticket:

(2) Where signs or markings are in place to define a no-passing zone as set forth in subsection (1), a driver may not, at any time, drive on the left side of the roadway within such no-passing zone or on the left side of any pavement striping designed to mark such no-passing zone throughout its length.
(3) This section does not apply to a driver who safely and briefly drives to the left of the center of the roadway only to the extent necessary to:
(a) Avoid an obstruction;
(b) Turn left into or from an alley, a private road, or a driveway; or
(c) Overtake and pass a bicycle or other nonmotorized vehicle or an electric bicycle pursuant to s. 316.083(2) or (3).

It is pretty clear that the solid white line is a pavement striping to mark a no passing zone and that with a few exceptions you cannot drive on its left. Note that you can cross that line to make a turn or avoid obstructions, bicycles, Ebikes and non-motorized vehicles. Note that avoid an obstruction is an allowed exception... see next post

[blueash]

316.2045 Obstruction of public streets, highways, and roads.—
(1)(a) A person may not willfully obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway, or road by:
1. Impeding, hindering, stifling, retarding, or restraining traffic or passage thereon;


Note that Florida law defines a street as being obstructed when traffic is being impeded, retarded etc. It does not seem to require that traffic be completely blocked for an obstruction to exist.

Could a sharp lawyer make an argument that under the law the slow golf cart represented an impediment and restraint to the normal use of the road. And this statute calls such an impediment an OBSTRUCTION

You're welcome. Now you better be prepared to show that you passed a golf cart that was going very much under the speed limit, not that your souped up illegal cart wanted to fly by a cart going only 18 MPH.

It also might be best to not pull out when there is a cop in the lane, as clearly the person who got the ticket did so in front of a cop

[maistocars]

And then you ask yourself when was the last time you saw any sheriff pull over a golf cart for doing that? Puleeeeze.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Hardlyworking

There is a thread on the N***D*** site where someone is claiming to have been issued a ticket for crossing the solid white line of the diamond lane to pass another golf cart.

I did a quick search through this forum thinking that the topic has been discussed already but couldn’t find anything.

An endless topic with different spins to it. People seem to always claim they are right-even when they are wrong. There used to be, likely still is, a monthly presentation by the police dept re: golf cart regulations. That would be a wise place to ask and get proper answers other than OPINIONS.

Passing another golf cart. As I understand it the LEGAL top speed for a golf cart is 20 miles per hour. If, you are passing others there is a good chance YOU are speeding. A street legal golf cart requires PLATES, INSURANCE AND A LICENSED DRIVER.

A typical golf cart is actually a second class vehicle, supposed to yield to cars and even bicycles.

[Hardlyworking]

Originally Posted by DAVES

An endless topic with different spins to it. People seem to always claim they are right-even when they are wrong. There used to be, likely still is, a monthly presentation by the police dept re: golf cart regulations. That would be a wise place to ask and get proper answers other than OPINIONS.

Passing another golf cart. As I understand it the LEGAL top speed for a golf cart is 20 miles per hour. If, you are passing others there is a good chance YOU are speeding. A street legal golf cart requires PLATES, INSURANCE AND A LICENSED DRIVER.

A typical golf cart is actually a second class vehicle, supposed to yield to cars and even bicycles.

Not necessarily. Rental carts are governed at 14 mph. I can pass that on a bicycle.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Hardlyworking

Not necessarily. Rental carts are governed at 14 mph. I can pass that on a bicycle.

Rental carts from where are governed at 14mph? I've rented three carts from two businesses and none were that slow.

[Hardlyworking]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Rental carts from where are governed at 14mph? I've rented three carts from two businesses and none were that slow.

I’ve only had one as a loaner. It couldn’t get out of its own way. Seems a lot of the slower carts are rentals. 14 was a number I’ve heard others mention in the past. Maybe it just seems like 14. Doesn’t really matter, I am not changing how I drive my golf cart.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Not bicycles, people are hazards.

More accurate than you realize.

[Hape2Bhr]

Originally Posted by Spartan86

I’ve seen discussions recently about this as well. So….you’re following a slower moving vehicle in the cart lane. You come upon a side street. The white line is broken crossing the side street. Can you now go into the traffic lane, around the slower cart/bike etc and back into the cart lane?

This exact situation happened to me on Del Mar Drive. I had exited Spanish Springs. After passing through the gate, I was behind a motorized wheelchair moving slower than Fred Sanford. At the first intersection where the white line stopped I pulled out, passed it and pulled back in before the next white line. I was watching for