by Greg Mitchell
Golf cart accidents can cause severe injuries. These accidents are caused by people who do not take precautions or generally ignore the rules. However simple the rules may be, it is important to adhere to them and help everyone to stay safe.
It is worth noting that as golf cart driver; always give the pedestrians the right of way. This is especially when driving on the sidewalks.
Carrying more passengers than the available sitting capacity is risky. Always ensure that all passengers in the cart are sitting. This helps avoid overloading which is a major cause of overturning. Passengers too should be cautious and always ensure that their hands, legs and arms are in the cart especially when in motion. This will prevent the passengers from falling and getting in contact with stationary objects like trees and stones. Passengers should avoid standing in these carts and remain seated during the whole driving process.
Always ensure that the cart is going at a speed of 10mph when there are people or animals and at a speed of 15mph when there are no people. While in motion, do no attempt to shift gears for it might overturn due to instability. When there are inclines, pedestrians, other vehicles and poor weather conditions, reduce the speed until you are past the scenes or until the weather conditions are back to normal.
Golf cart drivers and operators must have a valid license and follow all traffic rules and should not drive when intoxicated. They should also check in the cart the first time they enter it for warnings and safety labels, read them and ensure that they are followed to the later. Drivers should not also underrate golf carts as small vehicles but should drive them as if they are driving a real car on an actual road.
When entering or leaving buildings, be more careful to avoid hitting walls or gates. Always park in areas designed for golf cart parking and not those with paves. When it is not in use, the driver must place the control lever in park or neutral position, set the parking break and ensure that the key is removed and secured.
Golf carts should be used solely for their functions. You should not fool around in them or drive them in water. Avoid giving them to the children to use as toys and playing instruments.
It is important for the government to consider golf carts as other vehicles that cause injuries and even death to the users or pedestrians and ensure that the set rules are being adhered to guarantee safety to its citizens. It should also notify cart users that the number of wild animals has doubled in the recent past especially elephants, thus precautions should be taken by when golfing in areas with these animals. This will prevent accidents between cart users and animals.
These rules are simple to follow and do not require any cart user to be a rocket scientist to understand them. Always keep in mind that these carts seriously hurt and kill if you are not careful with them.
