Earlier this week I posted this article about two bills currently being considered that would let people drive golf carts on streets or in bike lanes and on sidewalks in Washington state.
In respone, blogger ‘Ventura’ said that it’s not a good idea to put a golf cart in the bike lane as it’s a plain and simple safety issue. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News agrees and printed the editorial below yesterday. The newspaper requires a subscription to view their website, so that’s why I didn’t provide a link.
So much for budget concerns. Two Washington state legislators have taken time from trying to patch the holes in a $2.6 billion deficit to introduce bills that would permit the use of golf carts on city streets.
We would like to wake from this bad dream now, please. Unfortunately, it’s all too true.
Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, authored a bill that would allow local jurisdictions to create golf-cart zones on low-speed streets. Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood, went much further when she introduced a measure that would allow the use of golf carts in bike lanes and on sidewalks throughout the state.
Golf carts are designed for use on golf courses by players who may have difficulty walking a 7,000-yard course, or those who want to play a faster round.
They have become popular transportation in some communities because they are easy and cheap to drive. The carts also can negotiate areas other vehicles shouldn’t.
Police throughout the state are allowed to ticket those who drive golf carts on the street. That’s how it should remain in areas used by the public.
Golf carts aren’t designed with the same safety features as a 5,000-pound automobile. The two colliding could result in serious injuries to the cart’s occupants – even at speeds of 25 mph or less. Factor in a heavier SUV or truck, and fatalities could result.
Green’s idea to allow carts on sidewalks and bike lanes is absurd. There’s a reason why sidewalks are usually restricted to pedestrian traffic. It’s a safety issue. The same is true with carts sharing lanes with bicycles. Besides, most carts are wider than the lanes dedicated to bikes.
We’ll admit the increased use of carts as an energy-saving transportation alternative makes sense. But little else does, including the potential for serious injury.
We suggest Haugen and Green go back to finding money to keep the state solvent rather than pandering to a small segment of the population who own golf carts on the west side.
Bike lanes encourage emission-free transportation. Golf carts, even electric golf carts, are not emission-free.
One of the claimed benefits in the article is that "elderly people who no longer wish to drive cars" could drive golf carts instead. That's not who I want to have bearing down on me at 25 miles per hour in the bike lane.
– Ventura
It's bad enough that you already have to dodge trash and cars parked in bike lanes, but add to that having to worry about an 80-year-old who's not confident enough to drive a regular car anymore but figures they can handle a golf cart.
My new years resolution was to quit being such a pessimist, so on the positive side, maybe it would increase the awareness of bike lanes and cut down on people parking in them and using them to park their trash on garbage day?
I'm not too confident either of these bills will pass. And if they do, I can foresee local agencies, such as the City and County, having MAJOR problems with it since it involves their sidewalks.
OMG! ON SIDEWALKS?! Wow. Looks like we need to think about drastic funding for basic education.
Agreed. Think of the traffic jam you'd have on sidewalks. Plus, in Spokane, there are a lot of narrow sidewalks or ones with poles sticking out of the middle of them (like on Monroe for instance), etc. Imagine the damage when an inattentive golf cart driver strikes a sign pole sticking up in the middle of the sidewalk.