GREENSBURG — The Greensburg City Council recently passed Ordinance #2021-10 on second reading, a new law that should make city residents with a golf cart happy.
With some limitations and specific rules applied, residents may now drive golf carts on city streets.
The ordinance defines a golf cart as “a vehicle on four wheel originally deigned for operation on a golf course and powered by a battery or an internal combustion engine of not more than an unladen weight of 1,500 pounds.”
Lawn mowers are specifically excluded from the definition of “golf cart’ for purposes of the ordinance.
The ordinance states that golf carts must be equipped with headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, seatbelts, slow moving vehicle signs and rear-view mirrors in order for a licensed driver to operate one on non-prohibited roads and highways posted with a speed of 30 miles an hour or less. The vehicle must also be insured as required by Indiana law.
Proof of financial responsibility must be kept with the vehicle or the person driving it at all times.
Golf carts are not permitted on city streets from midnight to 6 a.m., are permitted only on streets with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or less, and are not to be operated on sidewalks. They are permitted to cross state highways only at formal, paved intersections.
The cart must not carry more than the number of persons it is designed for and all occupants must be seated with no part of their bodies outside the perimeter of the cart while the cart is being operated.
All carts shall obey all of the rules of the road and will require a registered sticker from the City of Greensburg valid for the current year.
Each cart must be registered with the Greensburg Police Department. To register carts, each operator must present the serial number of the vehicle, the make and model of the vehicle, proof of address and the phone number of the operator, proof of insurance, and must pay a $35 registration fee annually to the Greensburg Clerk-Treasurer’s office.
The Greensburg Police Department may issue a traffic citation to any person the officer has probable cause to believe has operated the cart in violation of Indiana and Greensburg city codes. Unregistered carts are considered in violation of Indiana and Greensburg traffic codes and may be towed, with the owner of the cart receiving a traffic citation.
The first offense for such a violation will result in a $50 fine, a second offense within the same year will result in a $100 fine, and a third offense will result in a $500 fine as well as revocation of the cart’s registration with the city coupled with the cart being towed and/or impounded.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.