Golf CARTS Making HEADLINES
Golf carts: An unexpected public safety issue for St. Johns County
S
T. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Golf carts are quick-
ly becoming a public safety issue in some St.
Johns County neighborhoods.
They’re known as the most convenient way to get
around for many Nocatee families and those in oth-
er golf cart approved neighborhoods.
Publix in Nocatee even has golf cart-only parking
spots.
But their popularity doesn’t come without prob-
lems.
“We need to get in front of this, start educating the
people, make sure they’re practicing safety on the
golf carts,” said St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office
Cmdr. Scott Beaver.
Just as we were wrapping up our story, we learned a
woman was hurt in a golf cart crash in Palencia.
Witnesses said her cart veered off the path and
went into the woods and she was taken to the hos-
pital.
This year, 17 golf cart crashes were reported in St.
Johns County.
Ten of them involved injuries, eight of them involved
juvenile drivers, and five of them involved injuries
while the juvenile was driving.
“If you could change one thing to make golf cart rid-
ing safer, what would it be?” asked Action News Jax
reporter Lorena Inclán.
“Raising the legal age to at least 16,” said Beaver.
Beaver with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office
oversees this area. Kids as young as 14 can legally drive a golf cart.
He’s currently working on setting up a golf cart safe-
ty course to educate drivers, especially the young
ones. Beaver is hoping his upcoming class will help peo-
ple learn the dos and don’ts but more importantly,
prevent a tragedy from happening.
“Most of the time from the ones I’ve been to, it has
been the golf carts have been at fault,” he said. He’s hoping to start the course sometime in January
or February.
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