By Rick Wagner
Here is a story that’s not making the evening news, and it’s about golf cart accidents. Now you might be thinking, “Those little electric vehicles can cause serious injuries?
There are over 15,000 golf cart-related injuries a year, in the United States half of those are personal injuries and over 11% are head or neck injuries. Golf carts may not seem menacing, but they account for 60% of all accidents related to golfing activities.
How is this happening? Around 30% of golf cart accidents are the result of people falling right out of the vehicle. I am making a guess that alcohol may be at play in some of these accidents, but we do not have good statistics
But let’s break this down further where these accidents are happening. They’re more common on hills, ball retrieval areas, and near water crossings, but they’re also occurring when golf carts collide with fences or or each other.
You’d think experienced players would know better, but 40% of the time, they’re the ones in these accidents. The majority, 60%, involve visitors.
Golf cart accidents happen frequently, they’re often severe, and victims are surprisingly around 38 years old.
And that is probably because of excess speed. About 40-45% of these accidents happen because people drive too fast.
Golf carts are quiet and often cannot be heard by someone in the way when a driver is inattentive. We need to stay aware, stay safe, and remember, speed is not your friend on the fairway.
If you get injured in a golf cart accident we can handle that for you but, we would rather you just have a good day at the links.
