LEVELLAND, Texas (KCBD) – With gas prices continuing to rise, some Levelland residents want to know whether they can use golf carts as a means of transportation.
While a golf cart can be driven on public roads, it has to be done safely and legally.
Erica O’Bryon, Levelland’s police chief, said right around the start of March is when golf cart activity began to rise.
Rising gas prices prompt interest
“That’s when we started seeing gas prices over $3 a gallon, so people are looking for different modes of transportation and trying to do it the legal and right way, which we can appreciate,” O’Bryon said.
These golf carts aren’t the normal ones seen on a golf course.
“You have to have blinkers, horns, mirrors on them. You also have to have a placard on the back of them and lights,” O’Bryon said.
Requirements for operating golf carts
Anyone operating a golf cart that travels less than 25 miles per hour, is also required to display a slow-moving vehicle emblem. The driver must also be at least 16 years old and have a valid driver’s license.
O’Bryon added anyone looking to travel with these carts, won’t be going very far due to Texas law.
“They can go two miles from where they are normally parked at night, where they’re stored at,” O’Bryon said.
And because the carts are sharing the roads with other people, it’s even more important to know how fast it can go, where it can and can’t travel, and when.
“They cannot be on any roadways that the speed limit is over 35 miles an hour, and they cannot cross any highway intersection even though if you’re on a road at 35 miles an hour, you can cross directly over it but you can’t travel at all down that highway,” O’Bryon said.
On top of those requirements, once it’s dark outside, it’s time to put the cart in park.
O’Bryon wants the public to know that these laws are put in the place for everyone’s protection, and operating a golf cart in this way is something the operator has to know if they want to drive one.
“You’re putting them in a vehicle, something that can cause damage and can cause harm, and so we want everyone to be safe,” O’Bryon said. “That is absolutely our bottom line is we want to make sure everyone is operating safe.”
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