Jonathan Weiner
Although golf carts are designed for courses and trails, with top speeds typically in the range of 10 to 20 mph, there are people who nevertheless drive them on busy public roads—spawning a federal case in Florida.
A recent ruling by a judge in Miami centers on whether insurance companies’ automobile policies extend to carts when they’re driven alongside cars.
“Given the quality of drivers in Miami-Dade County, and our exceedingly high insurance rates that lead the nation,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres wrote in his May 10 opinion in Geico v. Gonzalez, “it would come as a surprise to some that use of golf carts on our roadways is becoming more common. This trend seems unwise, to put it mildly, because bad things happen when a golf cart meets a two-ton vehicle. And when bad things happen, litigation ensues. Take this case.”
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