Golf Carts: A Way of Life in Peachtree City

   With the price of gas hovering at just under $4.00 a gallon and no relief in sight, Peachtree City, Georgia may have found a viable and green option for their residents long before the present gas crisis.  Chosen by US World and News Report as one of the top 10 places to live in the US, Peachtree City is “The Golf Cart Capital of the World” and home to about 100 miles of golf cart paths and over 12,000 golf carts.  Basically that equates to one for every three residents with two-thirds of the households in Peachtree City owning at least one golf cart!

Is Peachtree City the meca of golf carts and the protoype for other communities to follow throughout the US? Well now that you mentioned it, other communities like Eagle Harbor in Orange Park, Florida and Sun City Lincoln Hills in Lincoln, California have now been designated as golf cart communities.  Residents now have a viable option and are able to navigate their neighborhood by driving their golf carts to the store, a doctor’s appointment, their favorite restaurant, shopping, and of course right onto the golf course. 

Golf carts have truly become a way of life in Peachtree City, Georgia.  However, as these golf carts have become more popular so have the concerns regarding their safety. Currently, Laws in 26 states either allow low-speed electric vehicles to use some local streets or give the communities the power to make that decision, said Jim Reed, Transportation Program Director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more golf carts roll onto public streets, the potential for injuries increases, said Gerald McGwin, a researcher at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. His study, published in the June 2008 edition of The Journal of Trauma, found about 1,000 people in the USA require emergency room treatment from golf cart injuries each month. Most of those injuries occur on golf courses, but about 20% are from incidents at home or on public roads. The highest injury rate was for ages 10 to 19 and 80 years or older. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not recognize golf carts as on-road vehicles, so they don’t have to meet the same federal safety standards as automobiles and the need for safety has to be stressed in local ordinances.

Peachtree City has several rules to help keep all path users safe:

• All passengers of a golf cart must remain seated while the cart is in motion – it is very easy to throw     a standing passenger from a cart by suddenly starting or stopping the vehicle, or hitting a bump in the path or street.

• No one may sit in the driver’s lap while the cart is in motion – children could become crushed between the driver and the steering wheel in an accident.

• Young children should sit flat in the seat and wear safety helmets to avoid injury from falling or being thrown from the cart.

• All operators must abide by all traffic regulations applicable to vehicular traffic.

• Golf cart drivers should slow down when approaching other path users, curves, and intersections.

• Golf cart drivers should use caution when crossing any street or driveway, stopping the cart if an auto is approaching.

• Golf cart drivers are required to use a horn or other audible signal when approaching pedestrians from behind — electric carts are very quiet and can injure pedestrians.

• Where cart paths exist they must be used instead of parallel city streets (excluding private golf course paths).

• Carts driven at night must be equipped with functional headlights and tail lights.

• Carts are not allowed on or across Ga. highways 54 and 74, Peachtree Parkway, or Crosstown Road
  except at authorized crossings.

In Peachtree City, golf carts may only be driven by:

• Those 16 and over, whether or not they have a license (unless license has been suspended or revoked)

• 15-year-olds with a valid learner’s permit may drive alone, or if unaccompanied by a parent/grandparent,
  or person 18 or older, they may drive accompanied by up to one other person who must be at least 15 years old, or may be accompanied by up to 3 immediate family members.

• 15-years old with NO learner’s 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.

• Children age 12, 13 and 14 must be accompanied in the front seat by a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian.

• No person under 12 years of age may drive a cart.

Fines for under-age drivers are very steep, ranging from $350 for a first offense to $1,321 and loss of
registration for a third offense within two years.

The city posts complete path rules on its website, www.peachtree-city.org, and on the street and path map
 available for purchase at City Hall. For more information contact: 

Betsy Tyler
770-487-7657
info@peachtree-city.org