Sharing The Road With Golf Carts Raises Safety Issues

“Kristopher Seluga, a mechanical engineering and safety expert who conducts studies on golf cart safety, says he is frustrated every time he reads of another death or injury to a child.                                       

“In so many of the articles they use the term ‘freak accident,’ he says. “It’s not. It happens all the time.”

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission show that each year, about 13,000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room visits, and that number is rising as the economical, fun-to-drive carts become more popular on city streets, Of those accidents, about 40 percent involve children younger than 16, and half of those are due to a fall from a moving golf cart.”

“Seluga studies, using golf carts and child-size crash dummies, suggest that many ejections occur during left turns. He says children are susceptible to falling because of their small size and center of gravity, and they aren’t strong enough to hold on to railings that help adults.

Additionally, the railing next to the seat on the passenger side acts as a fulcrum for children, causing them to go up and over during a left turn, making it more likely they will land on their heads, he says.

“I’m a strong advocate of seat belts for everyone, but especially for children,” Seluga says. “I would forbid anyone to ride whose feet don’t rest on the floorboard.”    

Fred Somers, lawyer and secretary for the National Golf Car Manufacturers Association, disputes the safety benefits of seat belts on slow-moving golf cars because people need to be able to quickly jump out of a golf car in a rollover.  Otherwise, you could be crushed if the golf cart rolls and you don’t have a crush-proof canopy. 

On the other hand, Seluga states that he does not know of any deaths caused by rollovers where the riders were wearing seat belts.  And agrees that trying to compel golfers to wear them on the golf course would be unrealistic.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration created the Low Speed Vehicle category to regulate safety in 1997 as golf carts began steering off the golf courses and onto the streets.  All vehicles capable of reaching 20 to 25 mph are required to have seat belts and other safety devices.  The safety administration includes golf cars, neighborhood electric vehicles, and personal neighborhood vehicles in this category.

The most common golf carts used on the streets go slower than 20 mph and are more popular since they are less expensive.   They are not regulated unless specific local or state governments have implemented laws.   

In my opinion
Most golf cart accidents that we see in the sports context involve injuries when the golf cart strikes a pedestrian.  In addition, we have seen claims arising from accidents where youth operators have been transporting spectators from parking areas to ball fields.         John Sadler

Source:  Insurance Journal, 2010