Wednesday, April 24, 2002
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Wednesday, April 24, 2002 |
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PTC to eye expanding teen driver rights for golf carts? By JOHN MUNFORD
Under Peachtree City's current golf cart regulations, children ages 12 through 14 can drive a cart only when supervised by a parent or legal guardian. While this leaves out grandparents, a citizen committee studying the golf cart rules may suggest to the City Council that grandparents be included. During their first meeting Thursday, several committee members suggested other adults could be allowed to supervise young cart drivers. But that was a point of contention among the 10-member committee, which includes teenagers and several grandparents. One committee member suggested that uncles and aunts should be included; another committee member suggested it might be nice to allow babysitters the same privilege. Another suggestion would allow all adults 30 years and above to supervise youngsters driving golf carts. But that could lead to problems for police, however, said Maj. Mike DuPree of the Peachtree City Police Department. Officers investigating underage violations can be tied up for an hour because the department doesn't have the golf carts towed away and parents must be contacted, DuPree explained. The committee has also been asked to consider allowing 15-year-olds with a learner's permit to drive a golf cart on their own. That proposal wasn't discussed much, although the committee is scheduled to meet again Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m. to continue its deliberations. From 1998 until 2002, there were 12 golf cart accidents involving drivers under 16 years old, DuPree told the committee. Of the 83 total accidents reported during that time frame, 27 involved some type of injury, he added. DuPree said the department's statistics on underage golf cart violations "just scratch the surface" of the problem since the department isn't always patrolling on the path system. DuPree added that he didn't think any grandparents had been cited by the department for allowing youths to drive. "I don't tell the officers to look out for grandparents," DuPree said.
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