The incidents did not occur on golf courses but involved unsafe speed, riding practices and alcohol and have put a spotlight on a lack of safety and inspection requirements for the vehicles within the state, especially where they’re allowed on public roads.
Two serious accidents in less than a week involving golf carts, one of which resulted in a fatality, have highlighted a lack of safety and inspection requirements for the vehicles in resort areas, reports the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine.
The motorized carts, which are becoming more popular off the golf course, must be registered if they are used on public roads in Maine, the Journal reported. But there are no unified safety regulations or inspection requirements for their use, it was noted.
A Sanford, Maine man died two days after he fell off a golf cart on the night of July 27 at the Point Sebago resort in Casco, Maine, the Journal reported. John McKay, 52, was riding in a cart driven by Gary Belinsky, 59, of Westford, Mass.
Police say McKay fell after he stood up, wearing flip-flops, while the cart was moving. Belinsky has been charged with drunken driving — the carts are considered motor vehicles — although police have not alleged that he was driving recklessly.
On July 30, the Journal reported, five people were injured, two seriously, in a golf cart accident on Frye Island. Police say speed was a factor in the crash, but alcohol was not believed to be involved.
That accident involved a limousine-style golf cart with several rows of bench seating, Police Chief Rod Beaulieu told the Journal.
Beaulieu’s preliminary investigation suggested that the brakes on the cart failed to slow the vehicle as it gathered speed going downhill with seven people on board, the Journal reported.
In his six years as Chief, Beaulieu told the Journal, he had never previously dealt with a golf cart accident involving serious injuries.
Neither of the recent accidents occurred on a golf course, it was noted, and to date golf cart accidents have been uncommon in Maine.
But the vehicles have the potential to cause serious injuries, the Journal added, even though they rarely go faster than 15 mph. With a high center of gravity, golf carts can be prone to tipping, it was noted, and because most don’t have seat belts, passengers can easily be thrown in a crash.
David Farina, president of Country Club Enterprises, a retailer of Club Car golf carts that owns and operates Patriot Golf Cars in Saco, Maine, told the Journal that interest in golf carts is higher than ever, especially in resort areas and residential communities.
“Nothing has changed about the carts themselves,” Farina said. “What’s happening is that they are ending up off golf courses and people are driving them faster than they are meant to be.
“Unfortunately, I think you’re going to see more of these accidents,” Farina added.
The state of Maine keeps track of golf cart accidents only if they involve fatalities and occur on public roads, Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, told the Journal.
McCausland said he knew of no such accidents involving golf carts in recent years. The fatal accident at the Point Sebago resort occurred on private property, the Journal noted.
A study published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2008 showed that the injury rate for golf cart accidents doubled from 1990 to 2006, the Journal reported. The rise was attributed to the fact that carts are being used more often away from golf courses and are being driven faster than intended.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that, nationwide, 13,000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room visits each year, the Journal reported, and across the country, accidents involving golf carts occur nearly every week.
In early July, a 6-year-old Ohio boy was struck and killed by a golf cart that a 7-year-old was driving on a public road, the Journal reported. Two weeks later, a Massachusetts woman was fatally injured when she fell from a golf cart while attending a wedding in Indiana. The driver of the cart was arrested on drunken-driving charges. And at the end of July, a 77-year-old man crashed a golf cart in Hilton Head, S.C., and died from his injuries.
In Maine, golf carts are used regularly on the state’s many islands, the Journal reported. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said state law allows the use of low-speed vehicles, including golf carts, on islands as long as they are registered and the island’s governing body allows it. Anyone who drives a golf cart must have a valid driver’s license.
“I watch these crashes with amazement,” Dunlap told the Journal. “I don’t understand why you would want a golf cart to go faster.”
The city of Portland, Maine permits the use of golf carts on islands that are part of the city, including Peaks and Great Diamond, and have public roads, the Journal reported.
City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg could not immediately provide figures on the number of registered golf carts on Portland’s islands, the Journal noted. The last reported accident involving a golf cart occurred in May 2012.
Voters on Long Island, a separate town in Casco Bay, decided several years ago to allow golf carts on the island’s roads, Town Clerk Brenda Singo told the Journal.
In its most recent count, Long Island had 135 golf carts, the Journal reported. The island’s population is just over 200 in the winter and swells to about 1,000 in the summer.
Singo told the Journal she was not aware of any reported accidents involving golf carts.
Frye Island passed a similar ordinance in 1999, requiring registration for carts that are used on public roads, the Journal reported. A town employee could not provide the newspaper with a current number of registered carts on the island.
The island’s ordinance lists practices that are prohibited, including driving without a rearview mirror and driving by anyone without a valid driver’s license, the Journal noted.
But there are no regulations for the carts themselves, which can vary widely, noted Country Club Enterprises’ David Farina.
Most golf carts made today are electric, not gas-powered, and have engine braking to help slow them down, Farina said, and golf carts that are manufactured as “street legal” are equipped with seat belts and roll bars.
Those carts have bigger motors and can go as fast as 25 mph, Farina added. Prices can range from $2,000 to more than $10,000 for a new cart, and used models can cost less.
“These vehicles are safe,” Farina told the Journal, “but when you have people using them in different ways and when you add alcohol to the mix, bad things can happens.”
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