Indiana County Considers Ordinance Allowing Golf Cart Travel
People use all sorts of modes of transportation to get around — from driving cars and trucks to riding bicycles and hoofing it with their own two feet. In Elkhart County of Indiana, however, residents might soon be legally allowed to add golf carts to the list of vehicles they can take on the road.
According to local NBC affiliate WNDU, Elkhart County Commissioners are in the process of examining an ordinance that would allow limited access to golf carts on certain roadways.
“We’ve actually had some discussion on and off for the last year, year and a half,” said Tom Byers, Elkhart County Administrator.
The main reason they’ve been having those discussions stems from the fact that many locals have taken a liking to traveling around their neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs on the motorized carts.
“Technically that is not legal,” Byers said. “I think because of that and the growing interest is why we wanted to take a look at it and say, okay, if this is a growing trend and this is what people want to do, let’s at least try to accommodate it.”
The proposed ordinance would essentially restrict the golf carts to slower traveling subdivision streets in order for safety and to keep traffic flowing smoothly. Most golf carts travel at top speeds of 15 to 25 miles per hour.
“You can cross a county road to get to another subdivision but you can’t drive along another numbered county road,” explained Elkhart County Commissioner Frank Lucchese.
The idea of such an ordinance is not unique and has, in fact, been initiated in towns and counties across the the United States.
There would, of course, be other restrictions besides where the golf carts are allowed, including the presence of mirrors, driving hours, and keeping them off of sidewalks. The commissioners will open the topic up for public debate on March 7.
