ELIZABETHTOWN — Wind in the hair, the soft hum of a small DC electric battery motor, and folks sitting on front porches. Add in a warm summer evening, a friendly neighborhood, and you’ve got the makings for a perfect golf cart ride. It’s summer, and it’s the South.
Strike that. Keep the wind, the hum, the front porches, friendly neighborhood, and golf cart, but add in a public road, and you’ve got the makings of something else — a crime.
“It is illegal to operate a golf cart on a public street or highway in North Carolina,” said Elizabethtown Police Chief Tony Parrish, who brought the matter before the Town Council on Monday. “This is a severe problem here.”
According to the chief, much of the problem centers around underage driving.
“I stopped a girl a while back — she could barely reach the pedals — and she went through a stop sign right in front of me,” he explained to the board. “I asked her if she knew it was illegal for her to be driving and she said, ‘Yes.’ When I asked her why she was doing it if she knew it was illegal, she said, ‘Because everyone else is doing it’.”
The only exception in the law is when a municipality writes an ordinance allowing for it, but even then, there are restrictions.
“If, and that’s if, it’s allowed, it’s only on a street with a speed limit of 35 mph or less, and it’s only legal for a licensed driver — someone over 16 — and they have to have a license, registration, and insurance, just like any vehicle,” informed Parrish. “It’s always illegal for children to be driving them, and it’s illegal for adults in most areas.”
That area includes Elizabethtown, and police will be looking out for violators, according to Parrish.
The penalties for children or anyone else driving a golf cart without a license are the same as those for driving a car. All drivers, regardless of whether they’re eligible for a license, face a Class 3 misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum penalty of $200.
The penalty may soon get harsher, however, as the state, like Elizabethtown, is cracking down on driving without a license. House Bill 471, currently in a House subcommittee, proposes the fine — for the second offense and any after — be increased to $400. Under the bill, a third offense could result in the vehicle (or golf cart) being seized and auctioned off.
For adults who have licenses, but drive golf carts on public streets or highways in a municipality where it has not been approved, some familiar charges can be brought. Parrish said a number of moving violations can be charged, such as driving without registration or driving without insurance.
For the department, though, it’s all about safety.
“When I started researching, I found that in July, three people in a golf cart were transported to the hospital in Ocean Isle, and in Myrtle Beach, someone was killed driving a golf cart when they were hit by a car,” Parrish cautioned. “That was just a quick search. I feel like it’s just a matter of time before someone here gets hit by a car, and I feel like something needs to be done.”
Since the law is already in place, the board agreed to take no action, but to inform the public they would be cracking down on the violators.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163 or emailing ccarroll@s24515.p831.sites.pressdns.com.
