And I just thought it was a reflector hammered into the ground.
I'll be happy to pay $3 and another $2 per year for striping.

Three years of reported accident data was used. You can't generate more past data out of thin air. And, you can't analyze the frequency of things that never happened. So the case can be made to hold-off on striping for the time being, and rigorously collect new data going forward for a given reasonable period of time. If the frequency of accidents increases over the test period, then proceed with striping. If the frequency stays the same, continue collecting data. If the frequency diminishes, then cancel striping.

I have no idea how this general highway safety information below translates to safety improvements on TV MMPs, but for your dining pleasure........

HOW SAFE ARE OUR NATION’S HIGHWAYS?

In 2010, 32,885 people were killed on the nation’s highways, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the lowest number of deaths on American highways since 1949. Another 2.2 million were injured. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death of Americans between the ages of 1 and 24 years old. In 2010, motor vehicle accidents accounted for more than one out of every five deaths among this age group. (Source: Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Report, Volume 60, Number 4, January 11, 2012, Table 7). Poor road conditions contribute to more than one-third of all highway fatalities, according to the NHTSA safety data. Better alignments, wider lanes, median barriers, improved signage and signals, turn lanes, crash cushions, wider shoulders, utility pole relocation and other highway improvements could save thousands of lives each year. Almost three-quarters of all fatal accidents occur on two-lane roads. (NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2009) The Interstate Highways, despite high speeds, are the safest roads, with 0.78 fatalities per 100 million miles of travel. Wide lanes, gentle curves, long lines of sight, wide shoulders, barrier separated traffic and limited access points all contribute to the safety record. The worst are rural two-lane roads with a record of 3.08 fatalities per 100 million miles of travel (Highway Statistics 2009, Tables VM-2 and FL-30). Construction of the Interstate Highways has saved thousands of lives over the years. If all highway traffic were to occur today on same kinds of roads as we had in the 1950’s, the number of highway fatalities each year would exceed 165,000. NHTSA reports that highway crashes cost Americans more than $230 billion annually, including the cost of medical bills, lost wages, legal fees, auto repairs and delays. This is more than two percent of the nation’s total output of goods and services or Gross Domestic Product. The average cost per household is close to $2,000 per year. According to NHTSA, public revenues paid for almost 10 percent of crash costs, adding $200 annually to the tax bill of every household in the U.S.

At night oncoming carts with bright lights cause a real problem. To focus on side striping would surely help in these situations.

Side striping would be very helpful at night when an oncoming cart has very bright lights.

Those of you who keep proposing being willing to pay their dollar or two should be careful what you wish for and the precendent you are under taking.

At some point there will be other wants by "some" residents that will be proposed as only a few dollars per month. The trend ends up with ever increasing fees and or assessments or annua maintenace.....and a few dollars here and a few dollars there eventually we have fees that over the years become double what they used to be.

I have witnessed this creep into expenditures at other communities. Beware!!

This seems like a reasonable course of action. Use actual data and not just subjective perceptions.

When a sudden blown tire at 70 mph on an interstate caused my TR6 to lose control, bottom out in the median, take to the air across two lanes of opposing traffic and land up against a billboard, the people who stopped to help knew exactly how to pinpoint my location to the EMS by the mile marker.

Also, the quicker you can get disabled vehicles off the highway, the safer it is for motorists and occupants of the disabled vehicle.

I am not a careless driver, speeder, drunk driver, any of those things some are saying "Too bad, stay off the road" to. To this day I wonder if in my shock I ever even stepped on the brakes. I don't remember.

To me it's a matter of making the roads as safe as possible for every kind of driver. Back in the '70s it was a big deal to tally up the road deaths after holiday weekends. Cars and the roads have been made so safe you don't hear that much anymore.

And as for the poll... pick a torrential downpour after dark, take the pollsters out and let them navigate both marked and unmarked trails. Then let them vote.

"When a sudden blown tire at 70 mph on an interstate caused my TR6 to lose control, bottom out in the median, take to the air across two lanes of opposing traffic and land up against a billboard, the people who stopped to help knew exactly how to pinpoint my location to the EMS by the mile marker."

So , if there was a marker every 1/4 miles instead of tenth, you'd never be more than 220 yards from one, and we would save 60% of 6 billion.

My point was that we already paid for/are paying for something far more expensive than striping that has very little direct benefit to residents of TV.
And of course that's just the tip of the iceberg, I just wanted to pick an example that was completely asinine

I also agree they help make pinpointing your location easier, but that was not the goal the US Highway Dept stated. Apparently they spent 6+ billion to aid blind tow truck operators

So if you do get in a golf cart fender bender what phone number do you call to report the data?

Your spouse

Good common sense approach.

you obviously never saw how much damage 2 cars hitting each other at 20mph

(creating a 40mph collision) can cause....and cars have airbags and frames designed to protect the passengers, golf carts have nothing.

Many of you may not realize there are various sections of cart paths with dashed center lines. Some are so old that the lines have faded to almost invisible. Some have been repainted recently. So the dashed center line stripe is not something new for cart/MMP paths.

Love some of the comments on this YouTube video. Speed is 31 MPH for the test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGaiYaHQwEo

which is equivalent to a head on between 2 carts each going about 15 mph. To those who have visitors carrying babies on their laps, think you can hold a baby?

thanks twoplanekid for a more graphic depiction of the forces involved.

I watched the crashes as best I could because I can't find my glasses this morning. Boy oh boy, that's the worst driver I have ever seen.

I guess you could say that there was a real dummy behind the wheel.

Excellent comments! Your last paragraph was spot on. My recent trip on Buena vista in rain after football game was harrowing and I am not visually impaired!

Torential down pours.
After dark.

When the golf cart was moved from the golf course to being the daily driver/transportation, what modifications other than turn signals, head lights and brake lights were made to accomodate such conditions?

Does anybody wonder why they did not include windshield wipers? Why not?
Since there are many comparisons to the highways and the autos on them.....they must have windshield wipers. Why is that?

I've often wondered that myself. I was riding on St. Charles during the day in a torrential downpour, and the driver and I couldn't see a thing.

I've wondered why only street legal carts have wipers. I really don't know, but normally people don't golf in the rain. And if rain is forecast, especially at night, perhaps it's assumed that people will use their cars rather than carts?

So if it was raining that hard I assume you pulled over to wait the rain out. (common sense) You think side lines would help.

Sigh.

Do Street legal have glass windshields. Maybe that's the reason why they can have wipers

What type of safety equipiment have you installed on your cart? Seat bealts? Running lights? Wipers? High beam LED headlights?

They are supposed to have a single pane windshield with a wiper per USDOT standards, but I have seen 2 piece windshield as well. Maybe there is an exception for "low speed vehicles."

I have added seat belts and running lights. The carts I have seen with high beam LED headlights are blinding as you approach them. I have also added a fan for Summer and heater for Winter.

A common sense, not in a hurry, patient driver. That solves 98% of the problems/issues.

Side stripping of the golf cart path
 

Yep. And all those safety features on all our various vehicles and travel-ways are designed to help that very driver stay safe.

Has anyone checked out the article in the on-line news source today? Interesting article with lots of information. Monday's meeting should be exciting. I'll be there. Will you?

Yea read the article. Driver awareness is the biggest problem period. Changing the size of the tires, they're sold that way. Going over 20 MPH is done by the buyer not the provider. Even when the cart goes in for service they have to now make sure the speed is set at 20 mph and it's written on your service order. How FEW driving slow down when approaching a jogger or obey the 3 foot rule when there's a biker. Or the golfer who hangs his towel off the bag and covers the brake and directional lights. Best is when there are 2 bags and both lights are covered. How few observe the 10 mph over the bridge, hell I got passed on the bridge a few weeks back. JMO

Now we are getting to the real issues that make the MMP unsafe.
The striping will do absolutely nothing to reform these major contributors to unsafe conditions on the MMP.

While driving on the MMP yesterday morning on the way to our tee time we were following another cart as we approached the curve near where Buena Vista intersects 466A. Suddenly a cart came up behind us and tried to pass both of us in the curve. Suddenly there were two more carts driving in the opposite direction that ended up slamming on brakes and swerving off the side of the path to avoid a head on collision. :22yikes: This was very close to a five cart pileup had the other four drivers not been paying attention. Just another example where no amount of striping would have helped avoid this situation. The offending cart was obviously going over 20 mph. Had I not been so shocked I would have gotten his tag number (yes he had one) and reported him for reckless driving. Guess nothing can be done to fix stupid!

Did you report it to the data collectors?
On my bike I ran off the road on a blind curve to avoid an accident at the same place. I also saw an accident there, or the results while playing at Turtle Mound. My gut feeling is that most of us have been in close calls on MMP blind curves. Striping would not help, maybe a mirror would? I don't know.

Further down on BV there is a blind curve around Pinellas. I think if they cut the bushes down, it wouldn't be blind. I'm biking that way later to see a football game and I'll check.

I wish there was a pin point map that did point out the danger areas on the MMP. I wonder if TOTV would be a good place to submit the data? Moderator, can you help?

No I did not report this incident because as I said you cannot fix stupid. Our cart is equipped with a speedometer and we were driving at 19 mph just before we were passed so it was obvious that the culprit was driving above the legal speed of 20 mph on the MMP. Oh and since he had no golf clubs on his cart he was not late for his tee time either.

As to using mirrors I ask you this. If you were driving on a city street would you consider passing someone on a blind curve? I certainly hope not! You would most likely stay in your own lane and then pass when conditions were safe. This idiot decided to pass not one but two carts at the same time in a corner and just before a tunnel entrance/intersection. It was amazing that everyone reacted in time and I commend the other drivers for their defensive driving skills. I also comment them for the eloquent use of the English language in expressing their displeasure :censored: to the guy that was in such a hurry. I think I learned a few new words.

In all situations I only pass on a straight away. I'm not stupid.

My point is that blind curves are inherently dangerous and whenever possible be modified.

I don't know if that blind curve can be fixed so you can see the stupid people coming in the wrong lane.

The mirror suggestion is like the mirrors installed on the end of some tunnels. You get a chance to see if someone is coming on your blind side. I don't think that will work. Someone may come up with a more defensive strategy.

tomwed.....I certainly was not referring to you in my previous post! In this particular location the blind curve happens to be a very long gradual curve and a mirror would only cover a small portion of the area. Mirrors are great at intersections (such as tunnel exits) where you need to see if anyone is coming before you stick your nose out. I doubt that a mirror would be helpful in the area where this incident occurred just because of the angles required for drivers to be able to see someone coming from the opposite direction would be so wide. Most drivers, thank goodness, have better sense than to try to pass in such locations but there are always the privileged few that feel that their time is more valuable and do not want to be slowed down by things like laws, regulations or common sense thereby endangering those that are willing to proceed with care.

no problem
I was looking for a MMP map so I could see where you almost had an accident and found this accidently.

Village Community Development Districts

Golf Carts vs Gate Arms

This has nothing to do with striping but I think it makes your point about others making stupid decisions and driving defensively because you never know. These are just the videos of people breaking the Delmar gate.

It makes me wonder how safe it really is out there. This is real data collecting.