More cities give OK to golf carts on streets

ELY (AP) -- Dick Harger doesn't play golf, but you can often find the retiree riding his golf cart on the streets of Ely.

Harger's small town in Linn County is among a growing number of Iowa cities allowing golf carts on their streets as easy, low-cost transportation amid high gasoline prices, according to the Iowa League of Cities.

Golf carts have long been popular for running errands and visiting friends in retirement communities in Florida and other Southern states. Now the idea is catching on throughout the country, industry officials said. Critics worry about safety. One study has seen a rise in cart injuries as use has been going up.

"This is just something for convenience. It's working good," said Harger, 78, a former contractor who uses his gas-powered golf cart to travel three blocks to the Ely Post Office. He owns the building, and he has a workshop downstairs where he putters around in his spare time.

Ely, population 1,550, approved its golf cart ordinance in June after Algona and Clermont earlier in the spring permitted golf carts on streets. The Corning City Council in southwest Iowa is scheduled to vote on a similar ordinance Monday night, while the Tipton City Council in eastern Iowa will discuss the issue on Sept. 29, officials said.

"Citizens are saying, 'Hey, gas prices are pretty high, and you know, I have this golf cart. Can I drive it on the city streets?' " said Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities.

Iowa law has allowed licensed drivers to operate golf carts on city streets since 1982 if a regulatory ordinance is approved by city officials, said Mark Lowe, special assistant attorney general for the Iowa Department of Transportation. The gas- or electric-powered carts must be equipped with a slow-moving vehicle sign and a bicycle safety flag. They can't operate on state highways, except at crossings, and can only be used in daylight hours.

There's no official tally on how many Iowa cities have ordinances permitting golf carts on streets, but some -- such as Clarinda -- have allowed them for years, officials said.

Clive allows golf carts on its streets, but only for trips by disabled people. Clive City Manager Dennis Henderson said he couldn't recall ever seeing a golf cart on a local street, but he added that could change with the growth of senior citizen residential communities.

Safety questions have been a hot topic in several Iowa cities. That's because most golf carts don't have protective equipment such as seat belts, air bags and crash-resistant bumpers.

In Corning, City Attorney Stu Nielsen is strongly opposed to a proposed ordinance, fearing what could happen if trucks hauling grain or cattle collide on city streets with golf carts. He recently gave a blunt warning to the Corning City Council: "We're going to be scraping people up off the pavement."

Nielsen said in an interview he has been influenced by his past work as a county prosecutor when he handled cases involving tragic crashes. "I know how emotional and wrenching this is, both for the victim and their family, and for the person who caused the accident."

A study published in July's issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found golf cart injuries nationwide rose 132 percent between 1990 and 2006 with a total of 147,696 injuries. Seventy percent of the crashes were at sports facilities, 15 percent on streets and other public property, and the rest around homes or farms.