Golf Carts and Low-Speed Vehicles Can Simplify Back To School Hassles

05 Aug Golf Carts and Low-Speed Vehicles Can Simplify Back To School Hassles

With the advancements in golf carts and Low-Speed Vehicles, (LSVs), within so many residential communities, many busy families are leaving the family minivan in the garage during the busy back-to-school season.

Many neighborhoods, country clubs, and other gated communities are located adjacent or very close to elementary, middle, and high school campuses, and using a golf cart can be an efficient and time-saving method of transportation for school kids in several ways.

Easy, Safe School Transporter

Rather than taking the family car, many families are packing up the kids and their school materials and heading off to school in the mornings. Everyone enjoys a fresh, open-air ride, presuming your cart or LSV is equipped with the required street legal equipment and accessories to be driven on local streets in your area.

In Florida, your teenage children could drive a cart or LSV to school, provided they are 16 years old or older and hold a valid Florida driver’s license. Be sure to check with your children’s school regarding their golf cart campus policies.

In some residential communities, there may be a sidewalk or pathway that leads from your home to your child’s school. If the connecting pathway is at least 5 feet wide and there is a sign that denotes golf cart use, many families use that to drop off and pick up their kids. Be sure to check with your local authorities about rules and regulations on cart or LSV travel on paths, and always remember to yield to any pedestrians or bicyclists using the path.

If you plan on using your cart for school transportation, it will require all of the proper street legal features for your locality like seat belts, headlamps and taillights, turn signals, side mirrors, and a DOT-approved windshield, among others. There are also definitions and legal requirements related to carts and LSVs in all states regarding the vehicle’s top speed, what types of roads it’s allowed to travel on or cross at an intersection, vehicle weight and passenger capacity, and more. These legal statutes clearly define the differences between a “golf cart” and a “low-speed vehicle.”

Jerry McTear, the owner of Coastal Carts, points out that many of their customers rely on their carts and LSVs to get their kids to school and back. “Using a personal transportation vehicle like a 4 or 6-passenger LSV can not only save gas in your car but give you a great way to bond with your kids while enjoying a beautiful outdoor ride.”

Let Coastal Carts Help Find the Perfect Cart for You

Since 1992, Coastal Carts’ team of dedicated golf cart and EV experts have been helping our customers in choosing the ideal cart for their needs. We carry carts from Yamaha®, Tomberlin®, ICON®, and EPIC Carts®, each offering extensive lines of different models and configurations designed to meet any requirements from a casual round of golf to transporting multiple passengers in style and comfort or commercial and industrial use.

Florida residents can read the entirety of Florida’s State Statutes regarding cart use here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/0316.212