Child safety rules, DUI laws, open container bans apply behind the wheel of a golf cart
As golf carts multiply across beach towns and resort communities like Cape Charles, local officials are pressing drivers to understand that the same rules governing full-sized vehicles also apply to the compact, open-sided rigs buzzing around town streets this summer.
Cape Charles has added a second decal to the required permits that must be displayed on all carts — one permit decal and a separate placard listing 10 rules of the road. On rented golf carts, the rules decal must appear in the center of the steering wheel, where it cannot be missed.
Driving while impaired laws apply to golf carts, and no open containers of alcohol are permitted on board. Drivers must be at least 16 years old and hold a valid driver’s license, which must be in their possession while operating the vehicle. Children younger than 8 years of age must ride in car seats, and those under two must ride in rear-facing seats, just as you would do in a normal automobile.
There will be a fine of $50 for first offenses and up to $500 for second offenses.
The local rules in Cape Charles reflect a broader reckoning taking hold in communities nationwide as golf carts surge in popularity far beyond the fairway.
Golf carts aren’t just for golf courses anymore–They are becoming increasingly more common on streets and roadways as a convenient mode of transportation in many communities–even on the busy streets across the bay in Virginia Beach.
A Growing Presence — and a Growing Risk
The numbers tell the story. Emergency departments treated an estimated 6,000 golf cart-related injuries annually in 1990. That figure climbed to 18,000 by 2015, and current estimates put the annual toll approaching 26,000 injuries across the United States, according to data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Children account for nearly one-third of those injuries.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has recorded 130 fatalities associated with golf carts on public roads.
When accidents happen on streets rather than courses, the consequences are significantly worse. Crashes on public roads are typically 40% more severe than those on golf courses, according to safety data, because carts interact with larger vehicles moving at higher speeds — and because most golf carts lack doors, seat belts, airbags, or structural protection that passenger cars are required to have.
In Florida’s sprawling Villages retirement community, researchers found an average of 135 golf cart crashes each year. Nearly half of those accidents resulted in hospital stays, severe injuries, or death. One county in the area logged 54 cart crashes in just the first quarter of 2024, putting it on pace for more than 200 annually.
Communities Scramble to Catch Up
Towns like ours have been moving to enact or update ordinances as the number of carts in town grows.
Indiana’s Columbus area passed a similar ordinance in April 2026, following Bartholomew County’s own action in August 2025. South Carolina enacted statewide golf cart legislation in May 2025, requiring seat belts for passengers under 12 and authorizing municipalities to layer on additional local rules. Multiple other states, including California and Florida, have developed layered regulatory frameworks distinguishing between basic golf carts and street-legal Low-Speed Vehicles, or LSVs.
Under federal law, a golf cart modified to reach 20 mph or more is classified as an LSV and treated as a motor vehicle, carrying with it requirements for a vehicle identification number, registration, insurance, and safety equipment including headlights, taillights, turn signals, mirrors, and seat belts.
A 2025 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report found that only 62% of golf cart owners carry full coverage, even as more states move to mandate insurance for LSVs.
“Use Common Sense”
As usual, driver behavior remains the biggest issue.
Golf carts have a high center of gravity that makes them prone to tipping on uneven ground or during sharp turns. About 40% of accidents involve someone falling out of an open-sided cart. Injury rates among seniors have increased by nearly 70% over the past decade, even as the vehicles remain a staple of retirement communities and resort towns.
The seasonal spike is real: data show that on streets and highways, the share of golf cart incidents more than doubles in December compared to the annual average, suggesting that holiday gatherings and tourism contribute to elevated risk.
Contributing: Local municipal records, National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, U.S. Department of Transportation, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
About the Author
I’d like to know when the police are going to begin enforcing these laws? I’ve recently seen a lot of kids driving golf carts without parents, babies in driver’s arms, open beverages, golf carts racing each other on Washington Ave and too many driving without headlights on after dark as the tourist season is beginning to take off.
Just because Cape Charles has so called “new” GolfCart laws does not mean they will be enforced.
Cape Charles is a GolfCart sanctuary city and will only have the occasional”interaction”.
If they had any common sense, they would know that golf carts belong on golf courses.
Common sense is often overruled by profits, commericial interests, cart rentals, etc.
The town must also “appear” to be “concerned” and “take action” in advance of any multimillion dollar lawsuits for unfortunate future accidents.
Kind of a tapdance…
Damn shame what you people have done to Cape Charles.
Explain – what was better back then and what is bothering you about now. Be specific.
If you were not a Come-Here you would already know. Read the article above and put the comments below into context and figure it out for yourself. Why would I help you with your reading comprehension or your understanding of those typed words?
so you are blowing air for no reason at all? you have nothing to complain about, you just complain? you can’t answer a simple question? do you even speak and read english? what is bothering you? be specific. I think you are a come here faking it. blue hoss? blue come here punk.
Ask AI to help you….LOL!
Blue Hoss is a dyed in the wool Come Here. His daddy bought your daddy’s farm leaving you nothing. Blame him.
OK, I will help with some good advice: You All need to relax and drink a large glass of prune juice. A large glass…
New rules are ridiculous. Not laws. Not enforceable. IMO….. Take it to court if you get a ticket. Police department and town management doesn’t get to make laws much to Abby Scambergers chagrin!
Big Hoss and Laughing King …. Completely unproductive approach. You should reconsider it. Lots of come here’s are actually stay here’s . They sell their other homes and become welcome contributing members of our community and many add great value. They add tons of tax revenue to the town which you enjoy every time you go out of your house. 20 years ago Cape Charles was a S hole with broken windows and utility issues, flooding damage regularly and crack houses, crime and also at the same time a small basic community of simple kind people suffering as a result of many negative impacts. It was not the quaint, idyllic place you pretend it to be at all. You aren’t the only one who is aware of the town development over the long term. While there is MUCH to complain about in Cape Charles town management terms, there is also much good being done.
Maybe we could have an MMA fight and you two could go at it. Town Park at sunrise kinda thing. Grow up man.
We must all have liability insurance on any car, truck or motorcycle we drive on the roadway.
Why not dangerous GolfCarts often driven by morons?
I’m not sure what is a dangerous golf cart, perhaps laden with explosives, spinning knives extended off the sides of the wheels? Not sure how to spot them all.
Certainly agree lots of morons but I don’t think that being one is illegal. Most of my personal encounters with them don’t involve golf carts.
Liability insurance required on all of them should be one omnibus new legislation that also includes watercraft, surf boards, bicycles, riding mowers, go carts and playing golf, etc. , etc. The annual nationwide cost to humans and property is a staggering total.
Bottom line is a moron swinging a toaster by the cord around their head could kill someone. Going through life will kill us all. I’d rather do it with more freedoms than less when I step out of my house. I’ll take the risk. You could stay home I suppose. It’s nice to have choices.
dangerous GolfCarts often driven by morons must have liability insurance. Non-dangerous golf carts often driven by non-morons must have liability insurance.
A dangerous golf cart is one being driven by a child, someone without an OL, someone stoned drunk or driving in an unsafe manner.
They are out there, and if they hit you, there are local lawers ready willing and able to represent them and hurt you.
So, both the morons and non-morons are required to have “proper” liability insurance. Do you actually believe that Cape Charles PD will be checking for “proof” of that insurance, ( like the State Troopers do on highway stops), during one of their brief golfcart “interactions”? Laws without enforcement are worthless.
A 2026 Town of Cape Charles sticker must be displayed on the golf cart. The sticker indicates that tax has been paid and that the cart has liability insurance on it. Proof of insurance is kept at Eastern Shore Custom Carts. Are there any other questions you have about carts and insurance?
So, Eastern Shore Custom Carts provides liability insurance verification for all golfcarts in Cape Charles.
Interesting.
So if the payment to the insurance company bounces, is late or just not paid, Eastern Shore Custom Carts quickly locates the cart and takes off the decal.
Dang, that makes perfect sense.
Too bad the State Police does not assume that because a car has a decal on it’s windshield it is also properly insured.
Since you opened the door on comparing car insurance to golf cart insurance, I can tell you that based on factual numbers, and my 42 years in the industry, that you are 12.36 times more likely to be injured by an uninsured motorist (auto) than an uninsured golf cart. Take that as you will. If you are unhappy with the current standards of carting, I would contact the town. I do not believe the State Police locates uninsured vehicles (autos), so I do not have a response to your comparison. Do you have any other questions on carts and insurance? I’ve spent my life educating others and it’s a privilege to interact with you!