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Thursday, July 02, 2009
Ind. Law - Golf carts in the news
Laura Lane of the Bloomington Herald-Times had this story ($$) June 25th, headed "Golf carts get the go-ahead: Starting July 1, change in state law clears the way for small towns to allow carts on roads." Some quotes:
WORTHINGTON — In just six days, Worthington Town Council president Hal Harp will be street legal in his 1995 golf cart.From the Washington Times-Herald, a story today by Nate Smith:He has everything in line to comply with a new state law that allows towns and cities to adopt regulations making golf carts legal on local roads.
“The insurance policy I received today is effective first of July,” he said this week. “I have lights on the front and back, a rearview mirror and also a ‘slow-moving vehicle’ sign bolted on the back.”
He also has a valid driver’s license, another requirement for anyone who wants to take to the streets behind the wheel of a golf cart.
And his town has passed the necessary ordinance allowing the legal operation of golf carts starting July 1, when the state law goes into effect.
For years, small-town residents — including those in Worthington, population 1,452 — have tooled around to nearby businesses and neighbors’ homes in battery-operated carts that once were used only as a way to travel from hole to hole on golf courses. More recently, they have been seen as economical, fuel-saving and very slow modes of transportation. * * *
Harp said golf carts are fine for Worthington, but not a good fit for the streets of other towns, such as Bloomington. For him, he can drive from his house on Edwards Street down to the hardware store, the grocery, the baseball park or even to town hall for council meetings.
“It’s good news for a lot of people here in town who have golf carts,” Harp said. “I was thrilled the state Legislature passed the law, and hopefully we won’t have any major problems. There is a place for them. But they aren’t right for all towns.”
Like Harp, [Town Clerk-Treasurer Gloria Klass] has her golf cart ready to hit the road. All she has left to do is buy liability insurance, required by law. With a safe driver discount, she hopes to purchase a policy for $50 a year.
She usually drives her car two blocks to work, since she has to run errands for the town from her office. But starting Wednesday, she can take the golf cart to work and drive it to the post office, bank and other destinations close by.
She will encounter Harp and others in similar vehicles.
“I’ve already had inquiries from people on how to take care of them and where to get the lights and other things you need to have,” said Harp, who drove his golf cart around town for years until 2008, when the Indiana State Police issued a statement saying golf carts were not legal on the road and that people caught driving them would be ticketed.
Harp said then it was essential that golf cart drivers be careful, stay off heavily traveled roads and follow safety rules. “I think the state Legislature should legalize the use of them and allow the town councils to decide if it is right for their town or not,” Harp said last fall.
He and others lobbied their state representatives to change the law, and they did, making Harp’s wish a reality come Wednesday.
Other towns may soon follow suit; the golf cart issue is on the town council’s July 7 meeting agenda in nearby Bloomfield.
The streets in Daviess County have been littered with outlaw vehicles, slowly holding up traffic in areas that some would call dangerous.From yesterday's Lebanon Reporter, this story:But soon, golf carts will be legal in several cities and towns in the state. Starting July 1, carts with the proper modifications will be legal if the cities and towns a driver lives in passes an ordinance doing so.
Depending on where one lives in Daviess County, the debate on the ordinance may come as soon as the law takes effect. Town council members in Odon, Montgomery and Plainville said this week the ordinance will be discussed at their July meetings.
“We’ll probably present it for a vote in our July meeting,” Odon Town Council President Keith Bechtel said.
Bechtel went on to say the council had discussed the ordinance at a meeting in June and asked its attorney to draw up the ordinance.
Another town board member, Tommy Noble, said the town will probably pass the ordinance.
“I’m completely for them and most of the council is for them,” Noble said. “We won’t be charging a (cart) fee, unlike Loogootee.”
Loogootee already passed an ordinance earlier this month, according to Mayor Don Bowling. The fee, $25, will not go into effect until July 1.
In Plainville, Town Board President Dick Heshelman said the issue will be brought up at the board’s next meeting in July. The usual date, the second Thursday of the month, is being changed for July, Heshelman said.
Washington Mayor Larry Haag said Thursday the city is looking at the law and asked City Attorney Jeff Norris to research it, but could not say if the council would see or vote on an ordinance in July.
“There’s been some discussion and we are continuing to do some research,” Haag said.
A message was left with Elnora Town Board member Jerry Beck.
The largest issue on the carts may be in Montgomery, where many carts can be seen on the town roads. Board President Mike Healy said the town board will discuss the matter but he said “on a personal basis, I don’t want (an ordinance.)”
“I can’t speak for the rest of the board,” Healy said. “But I don’t think they are safe to be on city streets.”
Earlier this summer, accidents have been reported in the town from golf carts. On May 30, a child was taken to Daviess Community Hospital after a cart flipped over onto her. On May 20, a 12-year-old girl sustained injuries to her legs after a cart accident in Montgomery.
Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis helped put up new golf cart restriction signs Tuesday with street department staff. Twelve new signs went up Tuesday on Ind. 39, Ind. 32, Indianapolis Avenue and Lafayette Avenue. A new ordinance created in the state legislature’s last session allows cities and towns to decide whether golf carts are allowed on state highways or not, Lewis said. Lebanon has had an ordinance for a while, but the new bill requires road signs be put up on state highways. Indianapolis Avenue and Lafayette Avenue were exceptions because, though they are not state highways, golf carts are prohibited. Also, starting today, all golf carts must have a permit. “We’re expecting a lot of people at the office,” Lewis said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 2, 2009 03:14 PM
Posted to Indiana Law