Friday, June 20, 2003
|
Friday, June 20, 2003 |
|
Court ruling puts brakes on kids driving golf carts in Peachtree City By JOHN
MUNFORD
A recent ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals likely spells the end of golf cart driving for kids under 16 in Peachtree City. The court said state law requires golf cart drivers to possess a driver's license as it ruled against a man who appealed his conviction for driving a golf cart with a suspended license. The court reasoned that golf carts are "motor vehicles" since they are self-propelled, and persons driving motor vehicles are licensed by the state; the court cited case law that determined a license is required even to drive a farm tractor. The court's decision basically overrules Peachtree City's golf cart ordinance, which allows children 12-14 years old to drive when accompanied by an adult and those 15 years old to drive alone when they have a learners permit. "We are really stunned by this decision," said Mayor Steve Brown on Thursday. "After years of Council support for local laws allowing younger and properly supervised unlicensed drivers on our path system, this ruling completely supercedes our ordinances relating to golf carts." The city has the power to license the golf carts themselves, not drivers, the court said in its opinion. State Court Solicitor General Steve Harris said the court's ruling means no one without a valid license can drive a golf cart even on the city's cart paths. Police Chief James V. Murray cautioned parents and golf cart owners of the seriousness of the ruling Thursday, saying, "If unlicensed drivers are caught operating carts on the streets or cart paths now, they will face the same consequences as driving an automobile without a drivers license." Brown said the city will create some kind of "protocol" for enforcing the new ruling and "break it in slowly" to give young drivers plenty of time to learn about the ruling. And City Attorney Ted Meeker is researching to determine whether the ruling will require golf cart owners to have liability insurance, as is required for automobiles. In the past, an estimated half-dozen young adults and teens have been charged with driving a golf cart without a license or with a suspended license, but Harris' office dropped those charges because of the conflict between the Peachtree City golf cart ordinance and the state law on motor vehicles. "We didn't think it was appropriate to holdthem accountable for the mixed messages they were getting," Harris said. The situation was different this time with William Thomas Coker of Peachtree City who had the suspended license charge upheld by the appeals court. Harris said his office wanted "to throw the book" at Coker, an adult, who was also convicted of DUI in the same case his third DUI according to court records. State Court Judge Fletcher Sams sentenced Coker to two years in prison and a $1,000 fine after he was found guilty in a jury trial in January of last year. Assistant Solicitor General Lura Landis prosecuted the case and wrote the brief in support of the prosecution for the Appeals Court case. Coker was originally arrested on the charges July 21, 2001, at 1:15 a.m. when a Peachtree City Police Officer observed him driving on Northlake Drive and Aberdeen Parkway. He was first charged with driving while declared a habitual violator, which would have been in the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, but that charge was later reduced to DUI, putting the case in State Court, Harris said. Coker was represented by court-appointed attorneys in the original case and on appeal. Attorney Lloyd Walker appealed the case, claiming that the General Assembly didn't intend for golf carts to be classified as a motor vehicle under the law. Instead, golf carts should be classified as "motorized carts" which don't have as many restrictions, Walker argued in his brief to the appeals court. "Golf carts do not represent the evil contemplated by the state legislature when it enacted the licensing laws many years ago," Walker wrote. Brown said he and city staff will do what they can to change the law. "It's the only option we have, to get our state elected officials to make the necessary changes."
|
||