Q: Can you shed some light on the background of the new state law regulating golf cart use?
A: We recognize that golf cart communities are popular in St. Johns County and we are in support of them, but our office has noticed an increase in younger drivers of the golf carts that just was not safe. The previous statute allowed drivers as young as 14 to operate golf carts on public roadways where the speed limit is 25 mph or less. Once we identified that youth with no driving experience were getting hurt driving golf carts, we approached Rep. Cyndi Stevenson and House Bill 949 was drafted. Sen. Erin Grall was our senate bill sponsor. Our team spent a lot of time educating them on the issues, including that we were not interested in regulating low speed vehicles, only golf carts.
It’s interesting that this new law actually takes us back to a state law that was in place until the early 2000s, before it was changed to allow golf cart drivers as young as 14. We are basically returning to a previous law.
Q: What does the new law require?
A: The new law, which went through multiple committees in the House and Senate before being unanimously approved on the floor of both houses and signed into law on May 11 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be effective on July 1 of this year.
It requires golf cart drivers to be at least the age of 15 and with a learner’s permit. The reason why is that all the legislators agreed that at least with a learner’s permit, there has been some training on rules of the road.
Failure to abide by this law may result in a non-criminal, moving traffic violation citation, punishable with a fine and points assessed on the driver’s license. (A moving violation standard fine is $166 and three points on a license.)
Q: How does your office intend to enforce this new law?
A: The first thing we are doing is a big educational push. Once the kids are out of school, we will work through our community partnerships to educate them about it. This is also where we need the assistance of parents; they need to take a mentorship role.
We’re not planning on writing tickets immediately and this law is not intended to be a punishment. It’s the right thing to do to keep everyone safe. We know this will save lives.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you with any questions or suggestions about this article?
A: They can email me at sheriff@sjso.org or call me at (904) 824-8304. Also, our website, www.sjso.org has a wealth of resources, from alarm registration to Crime Stoppers to our Neighbors app.
