A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE
Georgia’s Peachtree City is synonymous with golf carts. Many
journalists have written about this symbiotic relationship and their work has
appeared in magazines, newspapers, and visitors’ guides.
Excellent reviews have been written on real estate websites; TripAdvisor
alone has a wide range of very good reviews about Peachtree City’s restaurants,
hotels, and amenities; over the past years various publications have listed
Peachtree City as one of the top ten places to live and also to retire in.
Peachtree City was even the subject of a 2005 UK study
entitled “An American Prototypic: or Peachtree City as an Inadvertent,
Sustainable Solution to Urban Sprawl”. The authors expressed the hope that the spatial analyses
of Peachtree City might serve the purpose of revealing the reasons why the
city's cart path system is so successful and suggest ways in which other
suburbs/towns and cities might emulate it. This paper concludes by suggesting
that Peachtree City could be used as a blue-print of a 'protopia' by creating a principle by which American suburbia could
be transformed into sustainable communities and yet do so in a manner which
would be distinctly American in
character and hence palatable to its citizens
unlike many current
public-transport focused proposals.
The following is copied from the City’s official website:
“The area
that is now Peachtree City was first settled by Woodland Era Indians about
12,000 years ago. In 1775 William McIntosh, Jr., son of a Scotsman and Creek
Indian woman was born. He later became Chief of the Lower Creek Indian tribes
that lived in Georgia. McIntosh believed that the Indians and white settlers
could live in peace. In 1821 he ceded Creek land to the Federal Government,
part of which became Fayette County. McIntosh was killed by fellow tribesmen in
1825, after which his two wives and several of his children stayed for several
months at the Ware plantation, located in what is now Peachtree City. In honor
of Chief McIntosh, many towns and roads in Fayette County were originally given
Scottish names. McIntosh High School is also named in Chief McIntosh’s honor.
In the 1950s a group of real estate developers
amassed over 12,000 acres in Fayette County to build a planned community.
Peachtree City was chartered March 9, 1959. The city was planned to be
developed into villages, each with its own shopping areas, recreational
facilities, and elementary schools. Peachtree City’s current villages are
Aberdeen, Braelinn, Glenloch, Kedron, and Wilksmoor.”
In the original plan
Peachtree City was expected to have between 75,000 and 80,000 residents. In the
mid 1970s, the Land Use Plan was revised to allow for between 40,000 and 50,000
residents.
THE ESCALATING GOLF CART PHENOMENON
The first golf cart paths
in Peachtree City were developed in 1969. The first master plan was drawn in
1972 and that included 23 miles of paved paths.
There are now reportedly 100 miles of paths and approximately 11 400
golf carts have been registered in Peachtree City. There are also plans afoot
to add more miles of paving when funds become available.
It is this popular amenity,
also described as a “signature” amenity that has made Peachtree City such a
desirable a place to live in, and to visit. The population of Peachtree City
includes a large number of elderly people, who, in the main, are parents and grandparents
who have moved here to live closer to their families.
Despite the large number
of golf carts that are registered in Peachtree City, the City is not in fact a
golfing destination. The three golf courses in the town are private clubs and
the thousands of golf carts are mostly used for transportation by the
residents. But Peachtree City is not the only community that enjoys golf carts
as a convenient mode of transportation. “The Villages” in Florida is probably one
of the largest retirement communities in the country, and the number of golf
carts owned by these residents is in the
region of 50 000. The number of towns
that are allowing the use of golf carts as a form of transportation is growing
steadily.
In April 2011, USA TODAY reported
that “Although the use of carts on public
roads is not yet legal in Fort Myers, that may soon change. The city is among a
growing number considering golf carts for use on city streets. Bowling Green,
Ky., passed an ordinance legalizing road use by carts this month. Hunters
Creek, Texas, legalized them late last year, as did Erie, Colo., in August.”
GOLF CART TRANSPORTATION’S DARK SIDE
Although this golf cart trend is spreading,
there is also a dark side to this
popular means of transportation.
In 2010 Technology Associates Engineering
Specialists published a report entitled” Golf Cart Occupant Ejections”. They
base the report on several peer reviewed articles.
Their opening sentence reads:
“According
to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC),
there are approximately 15,000 golf car related injuries requiring
emergency room treatment in the US each year”.
They continue: “One significant
mode of injury in golf car accidents is passenger ejection, which can lead to serious
injuries, especially of the head.
Based on CPSC statistics, roughly 40% of golf car accidents
involve a person falling out of the car, and many of these accidents involve
young children. In addition to ejection accidents, approximately 10% of golf car
accidents involve a rollover and statistics indicate that such accidents are
roughly twice as likely to lead to injuries requiring a hospital stay as
non-rollover accidents.”
Furthermore: “CPSC injury
statistics indicate that approximately 40% of all golf car related accidents
involve children (i.e. age < 16) and 50% of these involve a fall from a
moving car. As a result, children represent a dramatically large portion of all
ejection accident victims.”
The article also
lists details of a number of incidents involving children of all ages, either killed
or injured as a result of ejection from a golf cart.
In another online
article discussing golf carts and golf cart safety, a Florida firm of “personal
injury lawyers”, Searcy Law, claims that
Florida is the undisputed
golf course capital of the country: It has more than 1,500 courses, more than
any other state. It further claims that the most common causes of golf
cart injuries and deaths are:
•Overcrowding with too many
passengers;
•Arms or legs hanging
outside the cart;
•Sharp turns;
•Sudden reversal while going
downhill;
•Driving in wet or uneven
terrain; and
•Driver distractions such as
eating, drinking, or cell phone use.
In 2014, when the idea of introducing golf carts for general use
on Gwynn’s Island, Virginia, was proposed, the residents wrote a letter to the
Mathews County Board of Supervisors offering some pertinent information. Two surveys had been undertaken because the first had not informed
signatories of the need to lower the speed limit all over the island to 25
mph. Their concerns, which amounted to
an objection to the idea, included the unsuitability of existing roads, the
need to reduce the general speed limit, the island’s ever-changing population
number because of the seasonal homes, the inevitable increase in the number of
golf carts on the island, the fact that the community is a working community
and not a resort nor a retirement community, and safety issues. In support of their concerns they included a
copy of a newspaper report in the Herald Tribune about a fatal accident
involving a golf cart in Lakeland, Florida in April 2010. It had resulted in a
six year old girl dying of the head injuries she sustained after falling off a golf cart that her 17 year old sister was driving on a Friday afternoon
ride. The reporter also quoted Kristopher Seluga, a mechanical engineering and
safety expert who conducts studies on golf cart safety as saying that he is
frustrated every time he reads of another death or injury to a child, and that
in so many of the articles the term ’freak accident” is used, when it is no
such thing, because it happens all the time.
The letter written
by the Gwynn’s Island community can be accessed at http://mathewsva.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=348&meta_id=7737
“What Happens When Golf Carts Hit the
Streets?” is the title of an article that was published in the November 8, 2016, issue of “Stateline”, one of the Pew
Charitable Trust’s publications.
It
describes the concerns about
safety as golf carts become a way of life in retirement communities from
California to Florida,
as follows “ But as the
bare-bones buggies move from the back nine to the blacktop, safety experts and
advocates for seniors say they’re worried about them sharing the road with larger,
faster cars and trucks.“
Jana Lynott,
a senior policy adviser at AARP who specializes in transportation, was quoted
as saying that people in these vehicles are at as much risk as someone on a
bicycle, and that there is very little protection, and that it doesn’t make a
lot of sense to throw them onto roads where traffic is 45, or even 35, miles an
hour.
The article
continues “At least two dozen states have
passed laws authorizing local governments to allow golf carts on public roads
and regulate their use, said Amanda Essex, a policy associate at the National
Conference of State Legislatures. Many states prohibit them from being driven
at night, limit them to roads with slower speed limits, or require their
drivers to have a license. At least
four states — California, Louisiana, Nebraska and South Carolina — enacted
legislation related to golf carts last year and at least nine others considered
it, Essex said.”
The article points out that laws vary
from state to state, that golf carts traversing the roadways are not all alike, and therefore states have
different ways of dealing with them, and they’re not just driven by seniors:
It continues “The number of states
that allow LSVs on
public roads has skyrocketed from 15
in 2001 to 47 today, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a
nonprofit research group funded by auto insurance companies. Most states
restrict them to roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less; in Texas and
Alaska, the speed limit is 45 mph. Only Connecticut, Mississippi and Montana
don’t allow them.”
Jessica Cicchino, a vice president at the highway safety institute, is of
the opinion “If they get hit by a much larger vehicle, they aren’t going to
hold up,” and she doesn’t think LSVs and golf carts should be permitted on
roads with cars, especially roads with higher speed limits. Cicchino is also
quoted as saying it’s particularly worrisome when older people are involved, as
they’re more fragile and more susceptible to injuries in a crash, so it can be
especially dangerous.
The article also quotes Mr. Fred Somers, Secretary and General Counsel of
the International Light Transportation Vehicle Association (ILTVA), who
disputes the insurance institute’s position. “We’ve done our own studies that
tell us these vehicles are very safe when they’re used properly,” he said.
“They are engineered very carefully.”
“Many golf cart accidents or fatalities involve driver negligence, distraction,
or drug or alcohol abuse” he said. However, Somers said his industry agrees that
golf carts shouldn’t be allowed to mix with traffic on roads with speed limits
that exceed 25 mph. And, he said, golf cart operators driving on public roads should
be required to have a driver’s license or be at least 16 and have completed
driver’s education.
“You shouldn’t allow people who can’t qualify for a driver’s license,
whether because of age or sight, to operate them,” he said. “It’s too
dangerous.”
PEACHTREE CITY’S
LINK TO THE DARK SIDE
Peachtree City and its golf carts have also received a mention in national
publications over the past few decades.
On October 15, 2002,
The Christian Science Monitor, under the
headline: A
city where golf carts are a teen status symbol, published a report by Patrik Jonsson. Here
follows the entire report:
With over 9,000 registered golf carts and
nearly 100 miles of tar paths, Peachtree City, Ga., can now claim the title of
the "golf-cart capital of the world." Which city did it recently
overtake? No surprise, really: Sun City, Ariz.
But there's a difference between
the preferred transport of Arizona's retired Sansabelt crowd and the commuter
culture of this expanding suburb 30 miles outside Atlanta. "In Sun City
they've got all the old golfers, but this is where the youth dominate the
golf-cart world," says sophomore Josh Riedel, exiting a four-wheeler.
Indeed, they do. On most days,
hundreds of golf carts hum along the network of paths that has become known as
"children's highway." The parking area behind McIntosh High School is
always full of, not Jeep Wranglers and Volkswagen bugs, but E-Z-Goes, some with
dice dangling from the rear-view mirror.
To enthusiasts here, the town is
weaning families from the internal combustion engine and pioneering a quiet,
nonpolluting way to travel. But the crush of carts is also creating new traffic
jams and raising safety issues. Just how old is "old enough" to be
allowed behind the wheel of an electric cart?
"This is a very unique
community, and the government here has traditionally been willing to experiment
and take a progressive approach," says Maj. R.M. Dupree of the Peachtree
City police force.
But, in the wake of last month's
decision to allow 15-year-olds with a learner's license to drive the carts as
long as they are accompanied by older siblings, many are questioning whether
the city has taken its experiment too far.
The consequences of the city
council's vote were immediate. So many people paid attention to the decision
that the paths were jammed with 15-year-olds the very next day all illegally,
because the ordinance didn't actually take effect until a week later.
Peachtree City does not have an unblemished record when
it comes to the matter of golf cart incidents.
The Police Department has provided the following
tabulated statistics:
Year
|
No of Golf carts involved in collisions
|
No of collisions with injuries
|
No involving drivers under 17 yrs of
age
|
At fault age
11
|
At fault age
12
|
At fault age
13
|
At fault age
14
|
At fault age
15
|
At fault age
16
|
At fault age
17
|
At fault age
18
|
2011
|
74
|
11
|
40
|
||||||||
2012
|
69
|
16
|
31
|
||||||||
2013
|
57
|
13
|
27
|
||||||||
2014
|
65
|
22
|
19
|
||||||||
2015
|
43
|
23
|
21
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
10
|
5
|
6
|
|
2016
|
57
|
31
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
10
|
8
|
1
|
2
|
These figures illustrate some alarming trends. Firstly,
the number of golf cart collisions involving injuries has increased steadily
from year 2011 to 2016. The table below shows the results in percentage format.
It shows that drivers under 17 years of age, that is all drivers age 16 and
under, are responsible for almost half the reported accidents. More than half the collisions during the past
two years involved injuries.
Year
|
No of golf carts involved in
collisions
|
No of collisions with injuries
|
No of collisions with injuries as a
percentage
|
No of collisions involving drivers
under 17 years of age as a percentage
|
2011
|
74
|
11
|
15%
|
54%
|
2012
|
69
|
16
|
23%
|
45%
|
2013
|
57
|
13
|
23%
|
47%
|
2014
|
65
|
22
|
34%
|
29%
|
2015
|
43
|
23
|
53%
|
49%
|
2016
|
57
|
31
|
54%
|
37%
|
Results for accidents involving 11 and 12 years olds prior
to 2015 could not be accessed.
What is of concern is that these are only the reported
collisions. We will never know how many unreported accidents have occurred, and
the extent of any injuries that may have been sustained. We will also never
know the age of the drivers, whether they were licensed or not, or whether they
were supervised or not.
HEADLINED COLLISIONS
Over the years, there have been a number of collisions,
some minor, but some serious enough to make headline news. Here follow some headlines and
their reports:
Teens cause more golf
cart crashes in Peachtree City
Jill Howard Church
filed a report with the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Tuesday, January 31,
2017, which reads as follows:
This 2015 golf cart
collision did not involve a teenager, but shows how vulnerable carts and their
occupants are to accidents. High school students are responsible for an
increase in golf cart collisions, according to the Peachtree City Police
Department.
In
a message issued Monday, the city said cart collisions rose 33 percent in 2016
over 2015. In the last quarter of 2016, drivers age 14-16 were responsible for
67 percent of the accidents, and 70 percent of the collisions resulted in an
injury.
The police department
said it will conduct more cart path checkpoints and focus on enforcement in
problem areas. City rules allow golf carts to be driven solo by anyone 16 or
older, with or without a driver’s license, or by those over 15 with a learner’s
permit. Drivers aged 12-14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Peachtree City teen
injured in golf cart accident
This was another headline flashed across the local TV stations on December
4, 2015. The accident happened on North Peachtree Parkway in
Peachtree City around 4 p.m. Investigators said the golf cart was driven by
another teenager when it failed to yield to an oncoming car. When the golf cart
was hit, the girl was ejected from the vehicle, landing in the road
with serious injuries. The driver of the golf cart and another teenage
passenger were not injured.
4 injured, 1 airlifted, in PTC
golf cart collision.
Commenting in an initial report on the
mid-afternoon accident, Peachtree City Police Department spokesperson Odilia
Bergh said the collision occurred when a golf cart traveling northbound on
Huddleston Road turned in front of a car that had turned onto Huddleston from
Ga. Highway 54 and was headed southbound. The accident occurred a short distance
from Hwy. 54, on June 30, 2015.
The golf cart was attempting to turn
left into a business when the collision occurred, Bergh said.
The golf cart flipped over and the
four occupants were ejected.
Mom, kid driver cited in PTC cart crash
This accident occurred
on May 9, 2013.
According to the Citizen, the police
said that the crash happened
when the cart driver lost control as it approached Masters Drive north. The
collision caused Janice to be ejected from the cart and she was struck on the
head.
This golf cart crash so seriously
injured the Starr’s Mill High School student that charges were filed against
both the driver and the owner of the golf cart.
The juvenile driver was charged with
reckless driving and underage operation of a golf cart, police said. The
juvenile’s mother was cited with allowing underage operation of a golf cart and
failure to transfer golf cart registration, police said.
But before we
move on to consider the laws and regulations governing this mode of
transportation, I would like to draw your attention to what a young female
victim of a golf cart collision had to say about teenage golf cart drivers.
“I am just so angry at the teenagers
that did this to me,” Hill said, adding that others have confided in her that
other teens “drive like maniacs” on the city’s cart paths.
“It’s one reason I don’t ride or walk
on the cart paths, because of golf carts,” Hill said, adding that many cart
path run-ins go unreported because once the cart passes by, it’s difficult to
identify the driver. Also, unlike cars with license plates on the rear,
identifying decals are on each side of the golf cart.”
Amy Hill’s collision was reported in
The Citizen on October 20, 2013.
According to the report: Amy
Hill said she was going 26 mph on her bike heading westbound on McIntosh Trail
in front of Huddleston Elementary School when a golf cart piloted by a juvenile
driver struck her Oct. 6.
The
crash sent Hill tumbling to the pavement, tangled in her bike. She ended up
with a broken kneecap, several lacerations and a number of bruises, her chance
at the Ironman event later this month dashed completely. An ambulance took her
to Piedmont Fayette Hospital.
Because
the cart was heading diagonally toward her path on the road, Hill said she
started screaming “What are you doing!” at the cart driver. She said the cart
then swerved twice and went directly toward her.
“My
thought was, this was intentional,” Hill said.
Hill
wants city government officials to change the golf cart laws, as she thinks
15-year-olds are not mature enough to drive a golf cart unsupervised. She also
advocates for young cart drivers to be trained properly, as this is not her
first run-in with a young cart driver.
“I
don’t see why they should be able to drive a golf cart without a learner’s
permit at least,” Hill said. She added that it would be good to make sure new
cart drivers passed a basic driving test.
Hill
noted that ……… golf carts are motorized
vehicles and can be as dangerous as a car. Hill used to run on the city’s cart
paths but does so no longer because she was run off the path several times by
young irresponsible cart drivers, she said.
In
this case, Hill pointed out that not only was she on the road at the time, but
so was the golf cart even though there was a cart path along the road where the
crash occurred. Under city ordinance, carts are required to use a cart path
instead of the street if a cart path is adjacent to the roadway.
The
crash not only sent Hill to the hospital, but also has left her physically
reeling in the days after. Used to daily training, Hill has been unable to be
active as she recuperates, with her knee expected to heal in six to eight
weeks.
A
former Peachtree City resident who moved here in 1979 and went to Huddleston
Elementary, Hill said she moved away in 2003 because of the danger on the path
system because of poor decisions made by golf cart drivers. She added that she
is upset because no one from the cart driver’s family has called her to
apologize.
THE LAW AND THE REGULATIONS
GOVERNING GOLF CARTS
Peachtree City has a Code of Ordinances dating
back to circa 2002.
At that time the
regulations regarding
who may drive a golf cart were the same as the current regulations.
Then in 2003 an
incident occurred which resulted in a change in the law. The case known as Coker
v.The State was decided on June 13, 2003 in the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
A jury had found William Coker guilty of DUI and of driving with a suspended
license. Coker was stopped by police
while driving a golf cart on a public highway in Peachtree City. He appealed
only the conviction for driving with a suspended license, arguing that (i) the
evidence did not sustain the conviction, (ii) the court erred in instructing
the jury that a driver's license was required to drive a golf cart on a public
highway, and (iii) the court erred in declaring unconstitutional a Peachtree
City municipal ordinance allowing unlicensed drivers to drive golf carts on
public highways. Coker moved to dismiss
the suspended license charge, arguing that no license was required to drive a
golf cart in Peachtree City. He pointed to a Peachtree City ordinance, which he
claimed allowed 12- to 14-year-olds to drive golf carts on recreation paths and
streets if accompanied by a licensed parent.
The court held that OCGA §40-5-20(a) preempted
the ordinance and required drivers of all motor vehicles, including golf carts,
to have a driver's license when driving on public highways. The court instructed the jury of the
requirement for a driver's license, and Coker was found guilty on one of the
DUI charges and the driving with a suspended license charge.
There was much arguing back and forth, but
ultimately he lost the appeal after the appeals court decided that the
court did not err in instructing the jury that the golf cart driver here was
required to have a driver's license. The
evidence showed that Coker was driving a type of motor vehicle upon a public
highway, that his license was suspended, and that he had received notice of the
suspension. Thus, the evidence sufficed to sustain the driving with a
suspended license conviction.
As a
result of this ruling the Georgia law was changed.
The
effect of this was consternation in Peachtree City as the following report
dated June 19, 2003 and released by the PTC government describes:
Golf Cart
Drivers MUST Have License, effective immediately
A ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals
(Coker v. The State) now requires all golf cart drivers to be licensed and
follow normal requirements relating to automobiles. This ruling affects all
golf cart drivers on Peachtree City’s streets and paths, effective immediately.
The Court of Appeals decision, dated June 13, 2003, upheld the decision made
last year by State Court Judge Fletcher Sams.
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown said, “We are really stunned by this decision. After years of Council support for local laws allowing younger and properly supervised unlicensed drivers on our path system, this Court of Appeals ruling completely supersedes our ordinances relating to golf carts.” The city will announce the changes tonight at the Council’s 7:00 p.m. regular meeting. Due to state laws governing open meetings, changes to the city’s Golf Cart Ordinance will have to be placed on a future agenda to bring the city’s old law in line with the new State requirements.
The Peachtree City Police Department, which is required to enforce state laws, is already notifying drivers of the changes and asks that residents begin to comply immediately, but will allow a reasonable time of warnings to ensure residents have been informed of the changes.
The new ruling affects the following:
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown said, “We are really stunned by this decision. After years of Council support for local laws allowing younger and properly supervised unlicensed drivers on our path system, this Court of Appeals ruling completely supersedes our ordinances relating to golf carts.” The city will announce the changes tonight at the Council’s 7:00 p.m. regular meeting. Due to state laws governing open meetings, changes to the city’s Golf Cart Ordinance will have to be placed on a future agenda to bring the city’s old law in line with the new State requirements.
The Peachtree City Police Department, which is required to enforce state laws, is already notifying drivers of the changes and asks that residents begin to comply immediately, but will allow a reasonable time of warnings to ensure residents have been informed of the changes.
The new ruling affects the following:
1. Children age 12 –
14 CANNOT DRIVE A GOLF CART
2. Unlicensed
15-year-olds CANNOT DRIVE A GOLF CART
3. 15 year olds MUST
HAVE A LEARNERS PERMIT and operate under the same restrictions as driving an
automobile (licensed person 21 or older or parent in front seat, time
restrictions, occupancy restrictions, etc.)
4. 16 & over
MUST HAVE A VALID LICENSE ON PERSON while operating a golf cart on Peachtree
City streets and paths.
5. Licensed 16 &
17 year olds must operate carts under the same license restrictions as
operating an automobile (occupancy and time restrictions, etc. – check state
law relative to drivers under age 18).
6. +People who no
longer have a driver’s license CANNOT OPERATE A GOLF CART (this includes senior
citizens, disabled citizens, and persons with revoked or suspended drivers’
licenses).
Police Chief James V. Murray cautions parents and golf cart owners of the seriousness of the ruling, saying, “If unlicensed drivers are caught operating carts on the streets or cart paths now, they will face the same consequences as driving an automobile without a driver’s license.” He continues, “Registered golf cart owners are legally responsible for their carts and should ensure all operators are properly licensed.”
Peachtree City’s City Attorney, Ted Meeker, is researching to determine whether the ruling will also require golf cart owners to have liability insurance, as is required for automobiles. The City will release his findings as soon as they are available.
Mayor Brown said, “Rest assured that we will make every effort to work with our State Legislators to see what can be done to restore our cart privileges during the next Legislative Session.”
Peachtree City has over 80 miles of cart paths and an estimated 9,000 golf carts registered to the 11,700 households in the community, meaning this law could impact over 75% of the city’s population. Notices will be made available at local grocery stores and to businesses that sell and rent golf carts to ensure the community is aware of these major changes in the laws governing the operation of carts.
Police Chief James V. Murray cautions parents and golf cart owners of the seriousness of the ruling, saying, “If unlicensed drivers are caught operating carts on the streets or cart paths now, they will face the same consequences as driving an automobile without a driver’s license.” He continues, “Registered golf cart owners are legally responsible for their carts and should ensure all operators are properly licensed.”
Peachtree City’s City Attorney, Ted Meeker, is researching to determine whether the ruling will also require golf cart owners to have liability insurance, as is required for automobiles. The City will release his findings as soon as they are available.
Mayor Brown said, “Rest assured that we will make every effort to work with our State Legislators to see what can be done to restore our cart privileges during the next Legislative Session.”
Peachtree City has over 80 miles of cart paths and an estimated 9,000 golf carts registered to the 11,700 households in the community, meaning this law could impact over 75% of the city’s population. Notices will be made available at local grocery stores and to businesses that sell and rent golf carts to ensure the community is aware of these major changes in the laws governing the operation of carts.
Mayor Steve Brown stepped into the breech and
penned a letter on July 8 to Governor Sonny Perdue, who, as the letter reveals,
had witnessed Peachtree City’s 4th July celebrations that year.
Dear Governor Perdue:
Thank you so very much for being a part of
Peachtree City’s July 4th parade. Our residents were honored that you took the
time from your busy schedule to join us. Easily, one-third of the 12,000
spectators drove to and from the parade in golf cart and 90 golf carts
participated in the parade line.
As you know, Peachtree City is a successful
planned community with many unique features. One of the aspects that define
Peachtree City is the multiuse path system and the use of golf carts and low
speed neighborhood vehicles as a mode of transportation. The quality of life
that this alternative form of transportation affords us is in jeopardy due to
the recent court ruling in Coker vs. The State, which determined that anyone
operating a golf cart must have a valid driver’s license. Many senior citizens,
disabled adults and others without driver’s licenses are able to remain
self-sufficient by driving a golf cart since there is no public transportation
system in the City. Our senior citizens are understandably upset and are
requesting the City take whatever measures are appropriate to ensure they can
continue to drive golf carts.
We are the national leader in alternative fuel
vehicles per capita with 30 years of design and implementation experience.
Recently, we entered into a joint project with our County Board of Education
and constructed 140 golf cart parking spaces at McIntosh High School so that
15-year olds, with valid learner’s permits, could drive themselves to school
and then back home from extracurricular activities in the evening. The project
was so successful that we discussed building a second phase prior to the State
Appeals Court ruling.
Our elected officials at every level are
concerned about the impact of this ruling and are very supportive of restoring
our original golf cart driving privileges. At the July 3, 2003, council
meeting, Council unanimously endorsed a recommendation that legislative action
be taken at the next session of the legislature to allow municipal authorities
to regulate the operation of golf carts on city streets, sidewalks and
multi-use paths. To this end, we have requested the assistance of State
Legislative Delegation to introduce legislation that will enable municipalities
to regulate golf carts.
Governor Perdue, the council members and I
humbly request your support in this important matter. We will be assembling a
legislative package that details current Federal guidelines, our current
ordinances and suggested action on the State level.
Please know that we are always available to
answer any questions that you and your staff might have regarding this
important subject.
Respectfully,
Stephen
D. Brown
Mayor
In April 2004 HB1063 came to pass. TITLE 40 of the MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC Act 442 was amended.
This
Act exempts certain persons from driver's license requirements when operating
motorized
carts
under certain circumstances. The Act also provides that local governing
authorities may designate
certain public streets or portions thereof that are under its regulation and
control forthe
use of motorized carts. The Act also provides that motorized carts may cross
certain streetsand
highways. The Act amends O.C.G.A. Sections 40-1-1, 40-5-21, and 40-6-331. It
became effective April 22, 2004.
So that is why Peachtree City can now claim the following on its website:
A state law signed by
Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday April 22nd, 2004 gives cities and towns
throughout Georgia the authority to set rules for the operation of motorized
carts within their boundaries. The city’s law allows the following operators:
- Any person age 16 and older, unless they have had their
driver’s license suspended or revoked by the state;
- Fifteen-year-olds with no license or learner’s permit,
as long as they are accompanied by a licensed 18-year-old, parent,
grandparent, or legal guardian;
- Fifteen-year-olds with a valid learner’s permit can
drive solo or under the above conditions, or accompanied by up to one
other unrelated person at least 15 years old, or up to three immediate
family members;
- 12, 13 and 14-year olds when accompanied in the front
seat by a parent, grandparent or legal guardian.
NOTE: No one under the
age of 12 may operate a cart. Low Speed Vehicles such as the GEM car still
require a valid driver’s license for operation.
Then in 2012 the Georgia
Code was amended.
In the 2 January
2012 edition of the Times Free Press, a Chattanooga newspaper, the following
report appeared:
Golf cart owners in Georgia now have stricter
requirements to follow if they plan to drive their carts on roadways.
A new law that took effect Sunday creates a
separate classification of personal transportation vehicles for golf carts. It
also sets standards for towns and counties wanting to create ordinances
allowing drivers to use the carts on residential streets and multi-purpose
pathways. The law requires that golf carts have braking systems, a reverse
warning device, tail lamps, a horn and hip restraints.
The carts must weigh less than 1,375 pounds
and not top speeds of 20 mph. The carts must also be registered with the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Nathan
Deal this year after his predecessor, Gov. Sonny Perdue, vetoed a similar
measure last year. It had backing from one of Georgia's key industries -- golf
cart manufacturing.
The Georgia-based International Light
Transportation Vehicle Association, formerly known as the National Golf Cars
Manufacturers Association -- which prefers the term "car" to
"cart" -- estimates that 90 percent of the golf carts used in the
U.S. are made in Georgia.
"Safety is what we're concerned
about," said Fred L. Somers Jr., secretary of the association.
"Unless you put in some safety equipment accessories, you're just asking
for trouble."
And, he added, golf carts are a cheaper form
of transportation for people who live in cities where they don't need to travel
far to go to the grocery store.
Just 23 Georgia cities have golf cart
ordinances, with some places like Peachtree City near Atlanta and Hahira in
South Georgia creating golf cart lanes along local roadways, according to the
Georgia Municipal Association. Spokeswoman Amy Henderson said the ordinances
began popping up a couple of years ago when gas prices spiked, pushing people
to cheaper alternatives for getting around town.
State lawmakers who sponsored the legislation
did not return requests for comment.
Here is the link: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/news/story/2012/jan/02/georgia-mandates-golf-cart-safety/67314/
And here is the relevant
Georgia Code:
O.C.G.A §40-6-330.1 (a)
listed the required equipment for personal transportation vehicles.
However, §40-6-330.1 (b) was
the grandfather clause which reads:
(b) The requirements of subsection (a) of this Code section
shall not apply to any personal transportation vehicles operated during
daylight hours authorized by local ordinances enacted prior to January 1, 2012.
So places like Peachtree
City could continue with the requirements of their Codes of Ordinances because
they were enacted prior to January 1, 2012, provided that the personal
transportation vehicles were operated during daylight hours.
Despite the fact that
State Law takes precedence, and despite the fact that Peachtree City has
certain rules and regulations grandfathered in, the State Law requiring that a
golf cart be equipped with a horn, after dark, has not been included in the City’s
brochure “Do You Know the Rules”. It is therefore not commonly known that those
drivers who use their golf carts after sunset, and that if those golf carts are
not equipped with a horn, they are breaking the State Law.
THE ANOMALY
I started delving into the
laws applicable to golf carts in Peachtree City after a number of close
encounters with golf carts whilst walking my dogs and as a driver of a golf
cart. These encounters involved golf carts approaching me from behind without me
being alerted to their presence. I penned a letter to the editor of a local
newspaper who saw fit to publish it in its entirety. I subsequently approached the City Manager and
the councilors with a request to bring Peachtree City’s Code of Ordinances in
line with the Georgia Code regarding the requirement that a horn be fitted to each golf cart. These requests
have met with a puzzling resistance, despite their admission that the State Law
does require a golf cart in Peachtree City to be equipped with a horn except
during daylight hours. Any amendment that adds to the safety of users of the golf
cart paths should surely be welcomed by all users of the paths. The presence of
a horn will also aid the police with their enforcement duties. I believe that very few golf cart users, if
any, are currently aware of this legal requirement, and Peachtree City’s management should consider it
their obligation to inform users of this important aspect of the law, and this they
can accomplish by bringing the local ordinance in line with State Law.
I also believe that there
is an unintended anomaly in the existing Golf cart rules brochure, where it lists
who may drive a golf cart.
·
“Those
16 years or older, with or without a valid driver’s license (Unless license has
been suspended or revoked)
·
15-years-old
with a valid learners permit (unless suspended or revoked) in their possession. If unaccompanied by a parent, grandparent, or
person 18 or older, they may drive accompanied by one other person at least 15
years old, or may be accompanied by up to 3 immediate family members.
·
15-years-olds
with no learners permit must be accompanied in the front seat by a parent,
grandparent, legal guardian, or a person age 18 or older with a valid driver’s
license.
This surely means that
anyone over the age of 15 years and who does not possess a valid driver’s
license may drive a golf cart in Peachtree City. So in reality a 15-year-old
may operate a golf cart without a learner’s permit as long as he is accompanied
by a parent, grandparent, legal guardian, or a person age 18 or older with a
valid driver’s license. Then when he
turns sixteen he may then drive a golf cart solo without the benefit of passing
the necessary tests that anyone who wishes to drive an automobile, will have
undertaken. This is the very regulation
that allows untrained drivers, such as the one who caused Amy Hill’s needless accident
to negotiate Peachtree City’s golf cart paths unfettered by the law.
As mentioned earlier, In
November 2016 a letter that I wrote to The Citizen in connection with golf
carts and the absence of horns, was published, see Annexure 1. Only two online
comments were made, neither of which flattered golf cart drivers or law
enforcement. A copy of the letter, together with a covering letter was emailed
to the City Manager, see Annexure 2. A reply was received, see Annexure 3. I responded, see Annexure 4. A reply was received, see Annexure 5. A letter was emailed to the Mayor, Ms
Fleishman, see Annexure 6. I received a reply, see Annexure 7.
Furthermore, the same organization has compiled a document entitled Golf Course Safety Guidelines. These are aimed at paths on golf courses, but one can argue
that they are even more essential on public paths that carry a greater volume
of daily traffic. Do all the golf cart paths that slope and curve down to the
tunnels that allow golf carts to cross main roads fall within the
specifications in that document? But a
horn is certainly a necessity when approaching a tunnel from a ninety
degree turn on a downward slope. Regrettably this was not included in my original
argument. The guidelines also mention
keeping the paths clear of pine needles and other vegetation. With one hundred
miles of cart paths, this is a condition difficult to maintain. Here is the link to the guidelines.
I have resorted to the
compilation of this document with the hope that concern for the safety and reputation of the golf cart community
will override the incomprehensible unwillingness by Peachtree City’s management
to do the right thing.
Author:
Susan Buekes