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Hatfield officials ask committee to let town permit golf carts on local roads under local bylaws
Summary
Officials from Hatfield, including the select board chair, town administrator and police chief, urged the Joint Committee on Transportation to support H.3775 to authorize the town to permit electric and low‑speed vehicles such as golf carts on specified local roadways with local safety rules and insurance requirements.
Diana Sinzel, speaking for Hatfield, asked the Joint Committee on Transportation to support H.3775 to permit golf carts on the town’s public ways under local regulation. Sinzel described Hatfield as a small farming community with wide roads and clustered neighborhoods where residents already use golf carts for errands, social trips and local events.
Hatfield’s police chief (name not recorded on the hearing transcript) described a local regulatory approach and outlined safety guardrails: restricted routes (no roads with speed limits over 40 mph, and exclusions for I‑91 and state highways), mandatory registration and insurance and local inspection provisions the police department would administer. "They would have to be registered, they would have to be insured… No roads that exceed 40 miles an hour," the chief told the committee, adding the town would exclude state highways and limit cart use to suitable local ways.
Insurance agent Anna Holt said her agency can underwrite golf cart policies that meet higher liability limits than standard motor vehicle minimums and would offer bodily injury and property damage coverage to comply with the town’s proposed regulation. Town administrators and select board members said the program responds to existing community practice and noted it would increase accessibility for elderly and disabled residents.
No vote was taken; the panel asked technical questions about mapping eligible roads and inspection standards. Hatfield officials said they will work with state and local stakeholders on final language and enforcement details.
