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I’m Jim Dodson your personal injury and car accident lawyer in Florida. I want to
talk to you a minute about golf carts. You know there’s some things about golf carts
that may surprise you and if you’re considering owning one of these vehicle that you absolutely
need to know before you do so. Golf carts are not street legal, they are not authorized
to be used on the road ways, the only exception will be typically in certain communities where
local government has approved them for use and even there the use is restricted as to
when and by whom. That’s because golf carts don’t have any of the safety equipment that
are required of cars. The legislature requires that they just have a bare minimum of what’s
needed to operate them on a golf course. Two things since they are not street legal that
means they are not insured. They are just like a car in the sense that they are considered
by the courts of the state to be what is known as a dangerous instrumentality. That simply
means that they can hurt people the way they’re used and because they’re called a dangerous
instrumentality in Florida the owner is to be held strictly reliable. So if you’ve
been injured in a golf cart accident, if you’ve been hit by golf cart and it happened on the
golf course the owner of that cart, which is typically the club, can be held strictly
liable for the negligence of the driver of the cart. If you own golf cart and your thinking
of letting someone use it that same strict liability can be used against you as well,
and since the vehicle is not insured like a car before you allow anyone to use it or
ride around the neighborhood you need to make sure whether you might have coverage under
your home owners policy before you use the cart in a way that you intend. That’s your
tip of the day from Jim Dodson your auto accident and personal injury lawyer in Florida.