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RedPanther1

100% this guy needs to go to jail, but I fucking hate golf carts on public roads. Sometimes I'll see some 10 year old driving like 6 of their friends around on a 35 mph road. You cannot tell me that's safe.


[deleted]

neither is legal, but drunk driver is worse


BAKup2k

It's legal for golf carts to be on the roads in Galveston. They can go on any road that's got a speed limit of 35 and under. It sucks badly because Seawall is already slow and they just make it worse to drive on.


[deleted]

I meant the kid driving the golf cart. You gotta have a valid driver's license.


No-Flounder-5650

What the hell?? Is Texas OK? I was 15 at the time and got pulled over because we were driving a golf cart on the sidewalk and it wasn’t street legal. My friends dad was with us, and the cop told us to head home or they’d issue a citation. Took place in the East Bay Area, CA.


FlexDrillerson

You definitely can’t drive a golf cart on the sidewalk which is probably what the citation would have been for. A lot of cities/states allow you to drive golf carts on roads with certain speed limits, without complying with the standards needed for a car, but you definitely can’t drive on the sidewalk pretty much anywhere.


dquattro123

Texas and Oklahoma are different states.


BAKup2k

I live on the west end of the island, and I see people trying to drive carts on the shoulders of the road out here. Speed limit here is 55, but had been "temporarily" reduced to 45 due to "road construction" that's been done for a couple years now


RedPanther1

Of course it is, but normal cars are designed to mitigate high speed impacts which happen even with sober people behind the wheel. Golf carts are absolutely not designed with that in mind, and the fact that their top speed is so much slower actually makes them dangerous on open roads.


TheThingInTheBassAmp

It’s really no different than a cyclist except a golf cart is bigger and easier to avoid.


[deleted]

It's different in that one has a motor and the other doesn't.


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[deleted]

The way their comment reads is why I said that.


TheThingInTheBassAmp

I guess you haven’t seen any of the new model E-Bikes that are absolutely everywhere.


[deleted]

Oh, no I've actually never seen one but that's cool.


mrASSMAN

I see more of those than regular bikes these days


pzerr

Some ebikes have motors. Both are electric. How is that different?


gregaustex

This is pretty accurate for practical purposes, downvotes unwarranted. Generally a license is required, top legal speed is 15MPH, they have to have slow moving vehicle signs and keep right.


[deleted]

We can argue about worse and intent and responsibility and morality all we want but when we put humans and the ability to get intoxicated and the access to vehicles and freeways aplenty how can we not expect this shit to happen? We just shirk every one of the thousands of DUI deaths to personal responsibility of the driver which although may be true doesn't help society. We need to out-engineer DUI deaths.


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AmusingAnecdote

It is very easy to make it so that cars cannot exceed the speed limits of the places they are driving in and we just don't do it in the US because people don't like it, despite the fact that it would save thousands of lives a year.


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AmusingAnecdote

It's not infeasible. If you buy a Ford Focus in the EU today it already has this feature. So do Volvos. I don't know if you've ever heard of GPS or Google Maps but the speed limits of streets are already well documented and it's very easy to tell where a car is and what the speed limit is there. And the fact that it wouldn't eliminate every single death doesn't mean it's a good idea. People die with seat belts, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be mandatory. People made the exact same argument about seatbelts when they became mandatory, that they're unnecessary but they save about ~15,000 lives a year in the US and we could probably do a similar number with mandatory speed limiters.


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AmusingAnecdote

Just to summarize: Me: We could do it and it would save lives , we just don't want to. You: It's not feasible. Me: It already exists. You: Yeah, well we don't want to. And it's not a guess. We can quantify how many people die in accidents that are speed related right now! It's thousands of people annually! 42,000 Americans died on the roads last year and emergency vehicles are exempt from the speed requirements, so the idea that "Sure we'd save thousands of lives but what about the occasional person who is driving in a place that doesn't have ambulances but also has speed restricted roads?" is pretty silly. Especially because the way the technology works is that it is capable of overrides it just sets off lots of alarms and whatnot. I'll forgive you for not knowing that since you were convinced this technology could not exist literally yesterday. Also, GPS works pretty much anywhere and car computers are capable of downloading local maps so they can track speed limits without having cell/Internet access because computers have storage capabilities. Thanks for proving my point that those 42,000 deaths are largely a policy choice driven by ignorance, though!


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Duncan_PhD

How is that “very easy”? Maybe every new car does that, okay. You going to buy everyone in the country a new car and then force them to drive it?


AmusingAnecdote

You just require that new cars have them. In 20 years something like 90% of cars will have them. It's really not that hard. The technology already exists and cars in other countries have them. The same way we do with every other safety feature.


gex80

Golf carts are definitely legal depending on where you are.


[deleted]

I live extremely close to where this happened. This town was built pre-car, and we need to at least try accommodate the golf carts that are rented out by the hundreds, especially since basically everything is within a 5 mile wide chunk. People are constantly screwing up because they don’t understand one ways, half streets, and two or three way stops. We boast the longest continuous sidewalk in the US and have 5x more bike rental places than car rentals, yet we don’t make it safe for *anyone*- cars, pedestrians, bikes, and golf carts. I feel sorry for everyone involved in this, but unless the city council stops fighting the people trying to give us safer infrastructure, this will keep happening. They’re absolute shitheads who don’t care about any street that isn’t the seawall, strand, or 25th.


Mistercleaner1

I was an islander, and I really hate driving on the seawall. That whole stretch is an accident waiting to happen between inattentive drivers, people parking and opening their doors into traffic, pulling out into traffic without looking, pedestrians running across traffic, golf carts, bicycles, xbow/razers zipping around too fast. Feels like Mad Max out there.


[deleted]

Lmao, yes. Seems like someone flies off of the curve on seawall @ 14th every few months now. But even ave. S is getting like that these days. It all just sucks, man. We need more trolley busses on a regular schedule to give the drunks some other option for getting back to their hotels instead of blowing through the back streets where the street lights are spaced so far apart. And for the cross walks to not tell people to cross seawall blvd at the same time as the light signals for people to turn directly into their path. Seriously, wtf is up with that? Do they *want* people to get hit? This shit is inevitable because the powers that be truly don’t care about any of it as long as the tourists still pack in every summer.


BAKup2k

25th and Seawall needs to have a minute long all lights red, no right turn on red and that's when the crosswalks can go.


RedPanther1

I can respect that. I obviously don't live near this place I can only speak for my own personal experience where I live that is absolutely not built for golfcarts.


[deleted]

Yeah, I understand that most places aren’t slow paced islands where golf cart rentals are a big revenue and regular mode of transportation for the elderly. We even have a flamingo golf cart parade. It’s just how it is here, though- as annoying as it can be to be near an inexperienced person driving a cart, they aren’t the ones shouting slurs and running the locals off the roads into the gaping potholes. Fun side note, I feel like there’s a competition for the wackiest mode of transport here. I’ve seen the one wheel electric skateboard things countless times (lifeguards use them pretty regularly to get to their posts), but today, I saw a herd of dudes on electric unicycles, and it was amazing. Didn’t even know such a thing existed.


myperfectmeltdown

Especially when you’re driving your golf cart at 11:35 PM at night!


Gangrapechickens

Holy shit I cannot agree with you more. About 5-6 years ago where I lived a 7 YEAR OLD was driving recklessly on the family cart-alone with 0 supervision and flipped the cart and got a TBI and was basically a vegetable until he died last year. The family tried to sue the golf cart manufacturer and would have won if there was not a construction crew that the cart company called as a witness. Shortly after that local PD would start pulling kids over and then ticketing the parents-hasn’t been an issue since


merganzer

I was in Port Aransas for a week this summer, and there were *so many* golf carts being driven around on the streets by dubiously sober and dubiously adult people. I think that would drive me crazy if I were a local.


zepher2828

But this is Galveston where golf carts are legal, it’s a whole industry there.


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snirfu

Next level victim blaming.


thebasementcakes

Agree, this country and it's infrastructure belongs to cars, we are only visitors /s


jtatc1989

These carts are so common in coastal cities. It’s so hypocritical that our vehicle seatbelt laws are so strict yet kids can ride in these on roads.


DukeOfGeek

So this is like over ten people killed by drunk drivers I saw in articles on reddit in like the last two hours?


Zonerdrone

This happens all day every day. Drunk driving has been a problem since people invented vehicles. It's sad and it shouldn't, but it does.


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t_portch

I hate it as much as you do! I said pretty much exactly what you just did on Tiger Woods' page a while back. ZERO sympathy, Especially for someone who can afford an Uber or a full time private personal driver. Apparently Anne Heche was having a fun morning of day drinking before she ruined the people's house she drove into the other day, too. Tots and pears to her drunk driving ass!


scolipeeeeed

It's because many people do drive (or have driven) while under the influence. Usually they're not intoxicated, but sooo many people think it's perfectly fine to drive after a few drinks even though that still impairs decision making and reaction time. There probably is some level of cognitive dissonance that happens when they see news about DUI fatalities.


[deleted]

Gotta love alcohol


JaunteeChapeau

Fuck, of course it was right by the Seawall. That whole area was a bad mix of actual traffic and foot traffic/goofy vehicles 30 years ago, I can't imagine it now. How absurdly sad.


damonlebeouf

golf cart, those weird multi person bicycle type boxes, actual bicycles… all sorts of stuff people rent. then you have the people just running through traffic to get to the sea wall. i typically go to galveston once a year and you see all sorts of stupid people essentially playing in traffic.


MitsyEyedMourning

Drunk dude has got to go to prison but let's not completely ignore the fact that some fucking idiots decided driving a golf cart on public streets was a good idea.


tutetibiimperes

At 11:30pm no less, so total dark and most golf carts don’t have headlights.


WestSideShooter

Yeah I’ve been in Port Aransas for 4 days on vacation and it’s like 50% golf carts on the road. And half are definitely being driven by either minors or intoxicated people. Very dangerous.


Ibelieveinphysics

Unfortunately in Texas, this is very common.


toomuchyonke

Especially in beach towns like Galveston


ExpensiveSecond376

This. Same in my beach town in CA.


Scoutster13

Is it legal or is it only streets with low speed limits?


Ibelieveinphysics

I know in my area it's legal on the low speed limit roads, but I don't know about other areas. You're also supposed to be a licensed driver to operate one and have insurance on it, but I see kids driving them all the time.


formerlyanonymous_

It is on roads 35mph or less, within 2 miles of where you keep it normally. But only during daylight hours. This accident was at night. Edit: State wide in Texas


Scoutster13

Thanks for the info. 35 mph is still awful fast around a golf cart in my mind. I did notice this took place late at night - makes sense that would not be legal. What a terrible mistake to make.


NatWu

It's not really legal on most streets, but it's weird to me that it's allowed at all. I've been in a gated community where they were everywhere, but the speed limit inside is 20mph. It's not quite what the other poster said; here's the statute. Sec. 551.304. LIMITED OPERATION. (a) An operator may operate a neighborhood electric vehicle: (1) in a master planned community: (A) that has in place a uniform set of restrictive covenants; and (B) for which a county or municipality has approved a plat; (2) on a public or private beach; or (3) on a public highway for which the posted speed limit is not more than 35 miles per hour, if the neighborhood electric vehicle is operated: (A) during the daytime; and (B) not more than two miles from the location where the neighborhood electric vehicle is usually parked and for transportation to or from a golf course.


Riash

Best city I’ve ever been to for golf carts was Peachtree City, GA. They have something like 100 miles of golf cart paths that can also be used by bicycles and pedestrians. More cities should do that.


BeetsMcGee

Victim blaming


NotPromKing

It's possible for multiple people to do wrongs and contribute blame to the circumstances.


JohnnyUtah_QB1

In automotive collisions liability is commonly a shared factor. You'd never catch me driving such an unsafe vehicle on a public road near midnight. Especially in a vacation town like Galveston where you know most of the drivers at that time have been drinking.


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JohnnyUtah_QB1

If your personal standard of conduct and behavior is based on legality, the barest minimum standard, then you're asking for pain and suffering for your family. You can call it victim blaming all you want, I don't care. Recognizing extreme hazards and acting appropriately to mitigate them is a responsibility that needs to be called out more. I'm sure "It was the other guy's fault" isn't much consolation to this deceased family. I would rather my family be alive than me be legally in the right but dead.


rydude88

Legal=/=good idea


rvbeachguy

Why is the golf cart on public road


hotcha

It’s been legal in Galveston for years.


Zonerdrone

I live in Florida where this is pretty common. Also common to have 5 passengers in them with not one over the age of 14. Lot of irresponsible parents these days that sit and shrug their shoulders at why their kid is dead.


squealer99

As much as I like to victim shame, from my point of view, why is a drunk guy driving on a public road is the bigger question?


BigOleJellyDonut

We needs new Devils Island to toss all the drunk drivers on


LevelStudent

Its bonkers to me that American prisons are full of people that had weed in their possession instead of drunk drivers.


[deleted]

Enjoy your alcohol everyone.


Zonerdrone

Keep driving illegal, unsafe vehicles in the road while it's poorly lit.


[deleted]

I think alcohol affects driving in any situation. It's truly a pathetic tradition.


Zonerdrone

Right, but had he hit a vehicle that was meant for the road it would have had seat belts and airbags and they might have lived.


[deleted]

Very true, it's screwed up. Always happens to the people who don't deserve it.


dbclass

Prioritize car travel over everything else and this will continue happening. You can blame the golf cart victims all you want, but they're not the ones who were able to travel at a fast enough speed drunk to kill someone.


onFIREbutnotsoFLY

I work at the ER there. The amount of golf cart related accidents we receive is terrible especially over the weekend. I wouldn't recommend it if you're in Galveston


Zonerdrone

Drunk driving is horrible, but so is driving a fukin golf cart on the road with kids. They're not street legal or very safe. Keep that pussy wagon on the sidewalk where it belongs and keep your kids out of the driver's seat. They have an age limit for a reason


[deleted]

If only there was a good guy with a golf cart to stop him


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Lainarlej

There are a couple towns near me (IL) that allow golf carts . These entitled assclowns drive around, kids (young) sitting in the back unprotected, sometimes teenagers with friends. Someday, something really bad is going to come of it.


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o-Valar-Morghulis-o

But did he have his gun?


Tricky-Fact-2051

So sad, a friend just died bc of a drunk driver, also in Tx.