MOUNT VERNON — Looking to “gauge the interest of council in moving forward,” Councilman Jeff Gottke chaired a discussion on Monday whether to allow golf carts on city streets.
Golf carts are legal under the Ohio Revised Code. They are classified as an USV, under speed vehicle, and must meet specific criteria to drive on city streets:
- Unable to attain a speed of more than 20 mph
- Cannot be driven on (but are allowed to cross over) streets with a speed limit greater than 35 mph
- Must be inspected by local law enforcement
- Must have brakes, two headlights, tail and brake lights, turn signals, windshield, rear-view mirror, license plate lights, a horn, driver’s license for the operator and seat belts for every passenger
- Must have a license plate and title
The catch is that golf carts are legal under the ORC only if the local municipality allows them. Mount Vernon does not, as Steve Leighty of North Mulberry Street recently found out.
Leighty brought the issue to city council at its July 23 meeting. His cart is street legal with license plates, county sticker, lights, and insurance. He said he enjoys driving it, it’s “green,” and he drives it short distances to the store and around his neighborhood.
“I wouldn’t have it on Coshocton, there’s no reason to go out there,” he said.
Leighty questioned how electric scooters are allowed but golf carts are not.
Shawn Dennis also advocates golf carts being allowed on city streets. His golf cart is also street legal and inspected by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Noting he frequently gets behind fleets of city mowers and other slow-moving equipment, he said, “Those golf carts aren’t the only slow-moving vehicles out on the streets. I wonder if they have been pulled over as well.”
Dennis said he was not sure what the deterrent to golf carts is if state law already restricts what roads and streets the carts are allowed on.
Speaking from his experience of 29 years in law enforcement, Police Chief Roger Monroe said the city has consistently been having recent debates about traffic flow due to speed and volume on Edgewood Road.
“Let’s add golf carts to that,” he said. “Golf carts are not equipped with bumpers. If one of those golf carts are hit, we have a fatality. I don’t see the practical use in our type of community. We are a growing city, we are not a gated community.
“The flow of our city and the things we have going on now, I don’t see any practical use for a golf cart. I think it will create us more dangers than it will be benefit to the people who have them.”
He said that inspections, and who will pay for them, as well as enforcement, because golf carts are not governed under the same laws as other vehicles, need to be considered.
“Enforcement is going to be a lot tougher,” he said. “I have nothing against those who have them and use them for recreation or use them for transportation, I just think the situation we are in now that it would not be a benefit to us, to the city as a whole.”
Councilman Chris Menapace noted that some communities have bike lanes that accommodate golf carts and slow-moving vehicles, and asked Monroe his opinion on that.
“If there’s through traffic, it’s going to be a hazard, but that would be a step in the right direction to try and make lanes available,” Monroe said.
Councilman John Francis questioned whether there are any streets that golf carts would be allowed on given that city speed limits are 25 mph or 35 mph and USVs cannot attain speeds greater than 20 mph.
“I believe we can be a vehicle-friendly city,” he said. “You can agree there are safety issues with people going 55 mph.”
Noting that motorbikes and mopeds are street legal, Councilman Sam Barone asked, “Are we more comfortable with those in the traffic stream than we would be with a golf cart? Are golf carts significantly more dangerous than those other vehicles?”
“By volume, no, because we don’t have any golf carts,” responded Monroe. “Motorcycles don’t impede the flow. Mopeds are about obsolete. [Vespas] are scooters, they will do speed. You can take a lot of those on the highway.”
He also said that some scooters fall under the motorcycle designation.
Menapace, who is assistant fire chief for Whitehall, spoke from a public safety aspect.
“Very few motorcycle crashes work well for the driver. Very few Amish buggies work out well for the Amish community. Very few bicycles have a high survival rate when they get struck by an automobile,” he said. “I don’t know why we would let another slow-moving vehicle on the roadway. We have too many blind spots, we have too many blind intersections, and you can’t pick up a cat and throw it and not hit a state route in this community. So where are [the golf carts] going to go anyway without crossing a major thoroughfare with a 53-foot semi coming down the road?”
Municipalities that allow golf carts include Toledo, Gallipolis, Canal Winchester, Bowling Green, Urbana, Circleville, and Troy, among others. Locally, Ontario recently made golf carts legal with permits. Delaware does not allow golf carts.
Noting that he initially wondered why council was considering the issue, Gottke said that after the discussion he was at the least ambivalent about if not supportive of allowing golf carts. He anticipates having golf cart legislation ready to come before council sometime in September.
