jennsconspiracy, somewhere in Southern CaliforniaDear Velo,
I live in way south Texas, Mission to be precise. We have some unusual circumstances with road sharing. The bike lanes are frequently used for passing lanes, or turning lanes or parking lanes. This is not my biggest gripe, though.
I have an ongoing problem with golf carts. Golf carts at 6 a.m. going to the golf course to sneak on. No lights, no noise, ghosting along. (I have lights fore and aft) The ones that do have light seldom have brake light or turn signals.
Day time is just as bad. Sometimes coming back from the grocery store I use the sidewalk for safety. I do yield to all pedestrian traffic and will stop to let them pass. But what do you do about a golf cart going the wrong way on the sidewalk?
Yesterday there was a golf cart on the shoulder of a busy street going against the traffic. Many times they drive next to the curb, shoulder does not really apply, and as usual without signals or brake lights. I know this must be illegal but the local police turn a blind eye. I guess the income from one of the cheapest gold courses in the country is too much to pass up.
Curtis Whatley
Mission, Texas
Unlike bicycles, golf carts are not legal vehicles, and if we provide segregated lanes for non-vehicles, then shouldn't we do segregated lanes for electric wheelchairs and scooters and inline skaters? And doesn't that then further push bicycles out of the category of legal vehicles and into the category of "vulnerable user on a toy vehicle"?
Just askin'.
4 comments:
I'm a bit confused about the suggestion that golf carts are not legal vehicles.
Texas Sec. 502.001 defines a golf cart as "a motor vehicle designed by the manufacturer primarily for transporting persons on a golf course." That seems to clearly make it a motor vehicle to me.
Sec. 502.0071 further governs the conditions under which golf carts either must or need not be registered.
Sec. 504.510 states that it doesn't authorize "operation of a golf cart on a public road where it is otherwise prohibited by law."
Sec. 547.703 does require a golf cart to "display a slow-moving-vehicle emblem only when it is operated on an arterial street."
AS a motor vehicle, a golf cart would have all the duties & rights accorded to operators of other motor vehicles except as otherwise modified. Am I confused, or are we getting a little restrictive on the "same rules, same rights, same roads" principle? Roads are for all legal users. I might not be a big fan of golf carts running up & down major roads, but I'm not sure traffic diversity is bad for cyclists and it SURE makes the segregated facilities notion a whole lot less viable.
I LOVE having searchable Texas Statutes!
Steve, being allowed to use the road under special circumstances is VERY different from being a fully "legal vehicle", a right bicyclists have been afforded, but one that is being threatened.
I think the insidious aspect of this is the erosion of the principle that the roads are for all users, consistent with their not presenting an undue burden on other users. My father-in-law used a golf cart for regular transportation for several years.
I can't think of any reason at all why golf carts should NOT be allowed to use any road whatsoever, consistent with their inherent operating characteristics.
I don't see that a golf cart in a lane creates any more of a hazard or obstruction than a cyclist in a lane. Their top speeds are similar. In both cases, a car operator should simply make a lane change to pass.
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