If there is any confusion, which clearly there still is, a golf cart is a vehicle. The difference between a golf cart and a car should be obvious. A golf cart doesn’t have windows, airbags, and tons of steel around it to protect you when you have an accident.
Some people don’t even have seatbelts on their golf cart, and a car has those, too. When you make the conscious decision to either let your underage child drive the cart or sit in your lap while you drive or ride, please ask yourself the simple question below.
Would you do this in your car?
If the short answer is a resounding no, then this should be an easy fix.
Recently, I was heading up Landings Way North. I saw a woman riding in the cart while on her phone. A man was sitting in the driver’s side of said cart, holding what looked to be a five-or-six-year-old in his lap while “driving” the cart. What are you even doing in this situation? Is it really that lost on you how irresponsible and dangerous that is?
I have written about this topic so many times over the past 11 years that it makes my head spin. A golf cart is a vehicle. Do you know what would happen to your child sitting in your lap if the cart hit a curb or you had to swerve out of the way to avoid an obstacle like A HUMAN ON A BIKE?
If you’re not treating your golf cart like a car then you’re not paying attention. Take 10 minutes to Google golf cart accidents. You will be astounded by the news articles on not just the frequency of these events, but the fatalities involved with them.
It takes seconds. This is why they’re called accidents. Although I know the people who need to read this article won’t, I’m cautiously optimistic that those who do will forward this link to someone they know who needs to see it.
I live off Bartram. I am at Orton Court which comfortably sits between Wickersham and Caisson Crossing. I am frequently in my big glassed in room and I see the aforementioned time and time again and am horrified. I also see kids driving up and down my street in a cart without an adult nearby, or children in the lap of said adult who is on their phone.
If you’re not willing to throw your kids or grandkids in your car all willy-nilly without a car seat or a seatbelt, why would you carelessly do it in a cart?
Make it make sense! This community has seen its fair share of golf cart accidents and fatalities. We are reminded every single day how fleeting life is. I implore all of you to start treating the golf carts for what they truly are — a vehicle.
Stay safe out there.
