Street Legal Golf Carts On the Rise : TreeHugger

photo via Flickr

As a native of South Carolina, sharing the road with golf carts is nothing new. With the highest number of golf courses per capita in the United States, we’ve taken our golf carts off-course for ages. Now the rest of the country is finally catching on.

More and more people are using golf carts as a means of daily transportation. According to Mygolfcartforsale.com, the site has recently seen drastic increases in demand for street legal golf carts due, in part, to the golf cart's greener footprint. Residential construction statistics are even showing an increase in the number of new homes that are being developed with miniature golf cart garages instead of traditional garages. More and more people are doing their short commutes in golf carts.

What are the laws for operating your golf cart off of the course?
In South Carolina, any person with a valid driver's license may obtain a permit from the Department of Motor Vehicles that allows them to operate a golf cart on secondary roads within two miles of their home or office while it's light out. The driver can also legally cross any primary roads encountered on the way. The best part is that the permit only costs five dollars.

But what's a secondary road?
Most official maps generally indicate which roads are primary or secondary, so make sure to check out your route before you head out. This is just the law in South Carolina, so make sure to check your own state's laws before venturing out on the road. It's also important to understand that a golf cart is not equipped with the same safety features as a car, so never travel on roads that are busy.

Save more gas by using an electric golf cart instead of a gas powered golf cart. While electric golf carts generally don't have the horse power of their gas powered counterparts, most golf clubs can charge you up on site. The newest electric golf carts has as few as 50 moving parts meaning that's there is less of a chance of unexpectedly breaking down.

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