GOLF CART ACCIDENTS
According to the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC), golf carts
cause over 10,000 visits to emergency
rooms every year and injure approxi-
mately 15,000 individuals. Sometimes,
these injuries are fatal.
A report in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, or AJPM, stated
that technological innovations (such
as the ability to drive at faster speeds)
play a key role in the increase of injuries
and deaths. The report also noted that
people increasingly use golf carts off the
golf course for day-to-day transporta-
tion. For example, golf carts are com-
monly used on military bases, vacation
and retirement communities and at
resorts. As a result, it may come as no
surprise that the number of golf cart-re-
lated accidents and collisions grew by
a whopping 132% between 1990 and
2006.
Some Background Information on Golf
Carts
Depending on the make and model,
some golf carts travel as fast as 25 miles
per hour (although conventional golf
carts tend to go no more than 15mph).
Although there are some regulatory
standards for golf carts in place, these
are limited. Drivers are usually not
required to have permits or licenses to
drive golf carts, and some states allow
teens as young as 14-years-old to oper-
ate them.
Common Golf Cart Hazards
Golf carts also lack a variety of pro-
tective equipment, including (but not
limited to):
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Seatbelts, and:
Stability mechanisms to prevent individuals from falling out in
the case of an accident or rollover.
If golf carts were required to have stability mechanisms, there
is no question that people’s lives would be saved. When it
comes to accidents involving these vehicles, approximately
40% involve a person falling out of the golf cart (especially off
the back of the cart), and at least 10% involve vehicle rollovers.
These types of accidents are even more likely to result in cata-
strophic injuries or fatalities to consumers.
Yet another issue that complicates the safety of golf carts
is whether owners properly inspect, maintain and service
them. Studies have also shown that some golf cart owners
make their own modifications to their vehicles – it is crucial
to remember that making mechanical modifications makes
golf carts even less reliable and more dangerous and that it is
never advisable to do so.
More Common Risk Factors
Here are a few examples of other risk factors commonly asso-
ciated with accidents that involve golf carts:
Using drugs or alcohol before operating a golf cart (data
shows that alcohol is a factor in as many as 59% of recorded
golf cart accidents);
Failure to observe posted traffic laws (such as when crossing
the street, stopping at a stop sign, etc.), and:
Riding on the sidewalk(s)
Because golf carts do not have to abide by federal safety reg-
ulations, it is essential that individuals who operate them, or
ride as passengers, take safety precautions to limit the chanc-
es of deadly or injury causing accidents and collisions. Making
sure that the golf cart is in proper working condition, using
all available safety mechanisms, avoiding drugs and alcohol,
and obeying posted speed limits and other rules are all critical
steps to take before getting behind the wheel or riding as a
passenger.