Garrettsville a golf cart community?
Seems so. Village Mayor Rick Patrick and police Lt. Keith Whan both say they’re seeing more and anticipate an even greater uptick.
“If you're driving through town, it's not uncommon to see five or six golf carts on the road at any time. There's a lot of residents that have them and there seem to be more and more of them coming up,” Whan said.
Now, village officials intend to take advantage of a 2025 state law that allows golf carts on public roads as long as the posted speed limit is less than 35 mph and local governments — village or city councils — have ordinances in place allowing them.
Patrick and Whan envision legislation that would require cart drivers to be licensed and for the carts to be registered and insured. The carts will have had to pass all necessary safety checks, including being outfitted with seatbelts, turn signals and headlights, Whan said.
Admitting that golf cart traffic is more prevalent than problematic, Patrick said it is safer for everyone if the people operating them are old enough to understand the rules of the road. Whan agrees and looks forward to smaller, slower carts that have ‘Slow Moving Traffic’ triangles affixed to the back being off the road. Those are the carts most likely to present a potential hazard to other motorists, he said.
If village council authorizes legislation in the next month or so, Whan said police would observe a grace period through the fall, issuing warnings and impromptu education sessions instead of tickets. Those would start next spring, when the carts roll again.
Not ready to roll with the proposed changes is village resident Kim Polifrone. She said she and her dad had driven three and four-wheel golf carts around town for years and never heard any complaints.
“Now everybody’s getting upset about the golf carts, and I honestly don’t see a problem with it, because most of them that are riding around here are the bigger ones with the signals, the lights and everything, and everybody seems to obey the law,” she said. “I’ve never seen anybody driving erratically with them or anything like that. I’ve not heard of any golf cart accidents, either.”
Polifrone’s main concern is for elderly people, some of whom have mobility issues.
“It isn’t as easy for them to get to the store. My mother can get in her buggy and run down to Save A Lot and get a gallon of milk and come back and she doesn’t have to drive a car. She’s not as comfortable driving anymore as she used to be. She’s 87, so she gets into this thing and takes the sidewalks,” she said.
If the new law passes as drafted, the sidewalks will be off limits. Polifrone, though, thinks they are safer for kids and elderly people.
“They’re making something out of nothing. They’re really making it tough on people. It just seems like it’s one more way to control,” she said.