Electric golf carts have been used since at least 1951. Merle Williams of Long Beach, California was an early innovator of the electric golf cart. He started with knowledge gained from production of electric cars due to World War II gasoline rationing. In 1951 his Marketeer Company began production of an electric golf car. Two additional companies began production of electric golf carts in 1954: LEKTRO and E-Z-GO. CUSHMAN began production in 1955, CLUB CAR in 1958, TAYLOR-DUNN in 1961, and HARLEY-DAVIDSON in 1963. In 1971 the gasoline powered golfcart began production and soon after became a huge hit in a small town in Florida called The Villages.
Golf Cart Communities
There are a number of communities already nationwide where golf carts are used as an environment friendly means of transportation for every day tasks. Here a few of the better known ones:
Peach Tree City, Georgia has many miles of golf cart paths that link the city together. Golf cart travel is used by a great majority of the community, especially among high school students. McIntosh High School even has a student golf cart parking lot on campus.
On Santa Catalina Island, California, the use of motor vehicles on the island is mostly restricted. This is due to the fact that, by law, there is a limit on the number of registered cars allowed onto the island, therefore most residents, and visitors alike, move around the main city of Avalon, primarily in their golf carts.
The upper-class community of Bald Head Island, North Carolina, does not allow motor vehicles on the island (except for trams running to and from the ferry port and island-owned maintenance vehicles), so residents use modified electric golf carts instead.
The Villages, Florida, a retirement community of more than 70,000 people, has an extensive golf cart trail system (estimated at around 100 miles (160 km)) and also allow golf carts on many streets. It is the most popular form of transportation in this community.
A few famous places outside the U.S. where golf carts are used every day are spread over the whole globe. On Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia, where mainland vehicles are prohibited, golf carts are the main form of transport.
On the tropical islands of Belize golf carts are a major form of road transport and can also be rented by tourists. Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, does not allow public vehicles it has a total of 520 personal Golf carts not including the ones in the Golf Club or in the Marina Club.
Injuries
Along with the rising popularity of golf carts, the number of golf cart-related injuries has increased significantly over the last decade. A study conducted by researchers in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Nationwide Children's Hospital found that the number of golf cart-related injuries rose 132% during the 17-year study period. According to the study, published in the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, there were an estimated 148,000 golf cart-related injuries between 1990 and 2006, ranging from an estimated 5,770 cases in 1990 to approximately 13,411 cases in 2006. More than 30% of golf cart-related injuries involved children under the age of 16.
Here is a video on how to wreck your golf cart:
Watch the hands and feet is a good reminder to young passengers who want to golf carts are big toys. While they are very fun to drive, fun usually ends when an injury could otherwise be avoided. Keep members on a mobile cart is relevant to the security golf cart.
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