Golf Carts Are Safe…Unless They Are Abused
The weather is changing, and if you want to take advantage of the summer, there’s no better way than to go for a round of golf. Of all the sports you could play, nobody could argue that golf tends to be on the safer side. But it’s not the golf that’s dangerous…sometimes, it can be the golf cart.
Abuse of Golf Carts
Of course, when used properly on the course, golf carts are very safe. However, unfortunately, many people have come to use golf carts in different ways, many of which aren’t how the golf cart was intended to be or designed to be used.
This is especially true when younger kids or teenagers get their hands on golf carts. When that happens, many kids see golf carts as all-terrain vehicles, and take them places that they weren’t designed to be. Almost any type of terrain off of the golf course can be dangerous in a golf cart, when the cart is pushed to higher speeds.
Many kids overload golf carts with more people than the cart can safely handle; the weight imbalance can make the cart unstable, and people can easily fall out of the cart.
No Safety Features
Making matters worse, golf carts have almost no safety features to speak of, and there are no government regulations that require many safety features at all for golf carts.
For example, they have no doors. They rarely have seatbelts. They are not balanced for rough driving, with high centers of gravity that can be prone to tipping over. The top of the cart is not reinforced, so crushing can occur, if the cart rolls over.
Even if the cart itself isn’t in an accident, carts often have no seat belts. That means that occupants can easily be thrown from the cart. When they are, they can find themselves being run over, and crushed, by the cart.
Golf carts have neither the tires nor the shocks to absorb bumps or rough terrain—even the normal potholes or bumps in an otherwise safely paved road, can cause problems when golf carts go too fast.
Who is Liable?
When you are injured in a golf cart accident, there are a number of people who may be liable for your accident. The driver of the golf cart-or in the case of a minor, the parents of the driver-can be held liable, for allowing a younger child to operate a cart unsafely.
Some golf carts are not maintained the way that cars are, even though they should be. As a result, the owner can be held liable if there is something that breaks on the cart, causing an accident.
Remember that you can sue for a golf cart injury, whether you were a passenger on the cart, or whether you were an occupant in the cart.
Have you been injured in a golf cart accident? Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for help with your personal injury case.
Source:
usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-10-12/golf-cart-injuries-keep-rising-among-us-kids