ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
PROPOSED REGULATIONS WOULD place restrictions on the many elderly residents who use golf carts for more than golfing.
Senior citizens buzzing around neighborhood streets in golf carts are more threatening than they look, government regulators suggest. Washington wants to see the speedier models outfitted with safety features such as seat belts and windshields.
Here's the bottom line for golfers:
Those tooling around in vehicles that can't go faster than 15 mph would be riding in ``golf carts'' and excluded from new regulations being proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Faster models that can go between 15 mph and 25 mph would be considered ``golf cars'' - required to have headlights, turn signals, taillights, reflectors, mirrors, parking brakes, windshields and seat belts. They also would have to have a sticker that says ``WARNING: This vehicle must not be operated on the public roads at a speed more than 25 mph.''
Not all golf enthusiasts are enthusiastic.
``The price of the vehicles are all going to go up,'' laments Forrest McCoy, editor of Golf Car News in Phoenix.
The NHTSA decided to take on golf carts because more and more of them are being driven on public roads. Communities in states including California, Florida and Arizona now allow golf carts to travel on streets, often in special lanes.
Paul and Jacklyn Schlagheck of Lady Lake, Fla., don't see what all the fuss is about.
``The use of golf carts has been safe, with residents very responsible about where and when they use them,'' the couple said in comments to the agency.
But Fred Somers, general counsel for the National Golf Cars Manufacturers Association, doesn't mind Washington getting involved. Some communities already require as much, he noted.
In Palm Desert, Calif., residents who use their carts to run to the drugstore or over to the course already must be protected by safety features.
Somers worries that requiring seat belts without requiring rollover protective covers will result in belted golfers getting pinned under vehicles. In addition, he said, the industry would need more time to comply than NHTSA's proposed 45 days after publication of the agency's final rule.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB