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Modified carts face modified rules

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

Having gone back to the drawing board, the initial changes to Peachtree City’s golf cart ordinance may not be as Draconian as the original proposal.

The changes have not been finalized yet, but they will be discussed at the City Council meeting Thursday, Oct. 20 at City Hall at 7 p.m.

Among the tentative changes being considered by city staff:

• Off-road vehicles will be expressly banned from the cart paths, which technically they already are, according to city spokesperson Betsy Tyler.

• Carts must meet manufacturer’s safety requirements for stability, frame strength and braking capacity.

• A height, width and frame raise not to exceed specified numbers, which have not yet been determined. The figures will be set after getting more input from local golf cart dealers, Tyler said.

• The current speed limit on the golf cart paths of 20 mph would stay unchanged, Tyler added.

The changes are being proposed to improve safety on the golf cart paths, Tyler said, noting they are used by pedestrians, cyclists, golf carts and the almost-golf cart-like “low speed motor vehicles.”

“We have a lot of sharp curves and a lot of trees,” Tyler said. “That’s when the speed, height and width of carts come into play.”

Tyler estimated that 95 percent of city residents use the cart path system and 75 percent of residents own golf carts.

Efforts are being made to make sure the proposed ordinance would not create a hardship on golf cart owners, she added. For example, side view mirrors added to many golf carts in town will not count in the measurement of a cart’s width, Tyler said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the proposed changes were being reviewed by City Attorney Ted Meeker, Tyler said. More input was still needed from golf cart dealers as well.

It’s the off-road type vehicles that are causing some of the problems on the path system.

Had the Peachtree City Council outlawed all golf carts modified beyond the manufacturer’s specifications, as proposed nearly two weeks ago, thousands of golf carts would be out of compliance, according to local cart dealers and mechanics.

So many residents have had their factory motors replaced by more powerful motors, just so their golf carts can make it up some of the steeper hills in the path, dealers and mechanics have said.

John Stern of John’s Golf Car Service noted that golf carts are manufactured to carry two people and two sets of clubs. Carts coming from the factory don’t come with motors designed to handle four people as many of the golf carts in Peachtree City are, much less get those golf carts up some of the large hills on the city’s 80-plus miles of cart paths.

Stern said he has installed “hundreds” of higher-powered motors in local residents’ golf carts, mainly because they complain about the slow uphill performance of the factory-installed motor. Many of those motor upgrades are for cart owners on the north side of town, particularly in the Kedron Village area, because it is so hilly, he said.

The size of the passengers can also affect the performance of a golf cart motor, Stern added.

Most of the motors Stern installs in golf carts will go between 18 and 20 mph. But two carts he upgraded involved engines powerful enough to make a golf cart go more than 25 mph, he said. In both cases, the owner of the cart is the only one driving it, and the drivers are in their 50s or 60s, he said.

The speed limit on the cart path is 20 mph according to city ordinance.

“I make them sign a release form,” Stern said, adding that he advises them to drive cautiously and “don’t floor it and go around the corners.”

Stern says he warns customers about the increased power of the motors and particularly for those which can go 25 or more, he tells the owner never to “floor it.”

His other advice? “You should never keep your foot on the gas pedal going down a hill.”

But some golf cart drivers do it anyway, he said.

It is up to the individual driver to make the decision to drive responsibly, Stern said, adding that he wants police to patrol the paths better.

Some of the newer golf carts can be programmed to go no more than 19.6 mph, Stern said.

“That’s almost too fast for some of the kids that get out there,” Stern cautioned, quickly adding that it’s not just teenagers who drive carts recklessly. This weekend a guy in his late-30s came “flying around the corner” on a curve in the path, causing Stern to run his truck off the path. It upset Stern that the man was driving recklessly with his young son in the front seat.

On many sections of the golf cart paths, the pavement has become bumpy due to root intrusions so much that going 20 mph “would jar your teeth loose,” Stern added.

In fact, Stern has seen many more carts come into his shop for suspension repairs lately.

Stern said he has seen a growing number of “stretch” golf carts on the paths over the past several years, from four-seaters modified with an extra two seats to carry six persons, to four-seaters modified so the rear passengers can face forward, which he thinks is a good idea.

Part of the danger on the cart paths is, after all, for rear-facing back seat passengers who are unaware there may be a sharp curve ahead, Stern added.

Stern is proud of his Club Car cart, modified with a new body that makes it look like a miniature Dodge Ram truck. It has been modified to be an extra four inches taller with a special kit, but Stern estimates there are “maybe less than 50” throughout the city that have had such height changes.

The original set of proposed regulations almost certainly would have kept Stern’s cart, and others like it, off the city’s golf cart path system.

That’s not a bad idea, according to Peachtree City resident Aline Rowell, a senior citizen who lives near McIntosh Trail. Rowell said a “monster” style golf cart nearly ran over her one day while she was walking her dog on the path system.

“It scared me,” she said. “The golf cart was going way too fast and he was up too high. It was a monster-looking thing.”

Many seniors rely on the cart paths for walking and exercise, Rowell noted.

“I’m not knocking old folks, but we’re not as agile as we used to be,” Rowell said. “If you have one of those things coming around the curve, and there you are, what do you do? Do you go left or right?”

Rowell saw the same “monster” cart and driver later on, and she made sure to tell him: “You’re too big, you’re too ugly, and you’re too fat.” Although she didn’t specify it at the time, she was talking about the man’s golf cart, not the driver himself.

“The next time I saw him, he said, ‘This is a golf cart. What are you going to do about it?’” Rowell noted.

Such golf carts have no business being on the path system for safety reasons, Rowell added.

Stern said viewing a golf cart such as his “truck-cart” from the front, the body frame is so different from that of a regular factory golf cart that it does appear to be much higher off the ground than it actually is. And Stern’s cart doesn’t have a roof on it, so damaging cart path tunnels isn’t a factor.

Stern insists his cart is safe, though the extra height means he has to use more caution in operating it. He compared the difference as being similar to driving a regular car and driving a large sport utility vehicle.

Stern added that he doesn’t use his cart, called a Ramcota, for off-roading or the like.