Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Golf Cart Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House subcommittee gives favorable report to bill clarifying golf-cart seatbelt rule
Summary
The Motor Vehicles and Public Safety Subcommittee voted 6-0 to give H.4688 a favorable report; the bill clarifies that the state's seatbelt requirement for children 12 and under does not apply to riding on-course while playing golf, and sponsors said the change avoids costly retrofits for operators.
The Motor Vehicles and Public Safety Subcommittee on Tuesday gave a favorable report to H.4688, a bill that clarifies last year's law requiring seat belts for people 12 and under riding in golf carts on public roads.
Representative Wooten, who introduced the measure, said H.4688 is "basically just a cleaning up of what we did last year." He told the committee the earlier language unintentionally required courses to add seat belts to large fleets when children cross short stretches of public road while playing a round.
"It was not meant to impact the golf community," Wooten said, adding that retrofitting course fleets could cost "hundreds per cart," a financial burden for clubs that Wooten argued the legislature did not intend.
Committee members asked no follow-up questions; a motion for a favorable report passed on a roll call with recorded 'Aye' votes from Representatives Bowers, Frank, Gilreath, Grant, Kilmartin and Chair Tom Hartnett. The clerk announced a tally of 6 ayes, 0 nays and 3 absent, and the bill received a favorable report.
Why it matters: Supporters framed the change as technical, aimed at restoring the original intent of protecting public safety without imposing an undue equipment cost on golf-course operators. Opponents were not recorded in the transcript.
The committee moved on to its next agenda item after the vote, and no amendments to H.4688 were offered or recorded during the session.
