ORLANDO, Fla — Golf carts are growing in popularity all over Central Florida, from Winter Garden and Celebration to Baldwin Park and Ocoee.
In The Villages, authorities estimate there are 60,000 of them.
But just last month, a 60-year-old woman died in The Villages after she was thrown off a golf cart.
Survivors and families of those impacted by these accidents are sharing their stories while calling for stricter safety requirements.
“I remember going down the road. But I don’t remember falling out anything after that. I don’t remember the life flight,” said Carol Harris.
Harris was a passenger. She and her boyfriend were on the way to see her friend about a mile away.
“And then the driver went to turn, only I didn’t know he was going to turn left,” Harris said.
There was no crash. The golf cart took a steep turn, ejecting her from the cart. She said she was unconscious for about two weeks.
Emergency crews in Central Florida have responded to dozens of cases just like that where a person was thrown off a golf cart, and first responders worked to keep them alive.
“I got a call, said he never made it to the gym. He had been hit by somebody that ran a stop sign,” said Rebecca Thompson.
Her husband, Bill, was ejected while driving his golf cart.
Thompson rushed to the hospital where doctors said he was OK. She said just moments after leaving, she found her phone had three missed calls from doctor saying her husband’s condition was rapidly deteriorating, and they were flying him to Gainesville.
Thompson arrived at the Gainesville hospital to find a medical team breathing for her husband.
“The people that were pulling the gurney. They said, ‘We can’t wait here for a doctor. We can’t stop. We have to go to the operating room.’ A major part of his brain had been damaged, and he was bleeding. They did a craniotomy,” she said.
Bill Thompson was in a coma for about two months. She said during that time, she feared she would lose him. He was a pilot who retired from the military and a skilled linguist, his wife said.
The months that followed were filled when he came out of the coma and endured hours of therapy, she said. Thompson said he had to relearn how to do much of what he typically did day-to-day.
When asked if there was anything that could have avoided the accident, Thompson replied, “I think if he had a seat belt in the golf cart,” saying she doesn’t believe the golf Bill was driving even had one.
It’s the common trait in all the cases 9 Investigates reviewed. All were life flighted. All had 50/50 chances of surviving. None were wearing seat belts.
“When they don’t use them, it’s very easy to get ejected from that golf cart, even when there isn’t another vehicle involved in a crash. Just the motion of that golf car going around a curb too fast, they get ejected, and when that happens, person versus a roadway is not very forgiving,” said Lt. Christopher Thibodeau with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is one, if not the only, agency in the state collecting data on golf cart accidents.
In the first six months of 2024, when the agency began tracking the incidents, the county saw a total of 85 golf cart accidents.
The deputies say most, if not all, of the major injury or fatal golf cart accidents they respond to, the victim wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
“They’re requiring cars for a reason. Why would cars be any different,” said attorney Tim Babiarz.
Babiarz has handled dozens of these cases. It’s why he’s also a staunch supporter of making seat belts a legal requirement for golf carts off the course, just like cars.
“If there’s no seat belt to hold you in place, there’s no airbag in a golf cart, there’s none of the safety things that usually are in cars,” Babiarz said.
He said what adds to the need to make it a requirement are the speeds golf carts are reaching.
With the rise in popularity, some carts are getting juiced up to reach higher speeds. That’s despite Florida law stating golf carts should not exceed 20 mph. If they do, they’re no longer a golf cart, but a vehicle that must have a registration.
“You lose some of that safety benefit when the speed on them is increased,” Babiarz said.
Survivors like Harris, and family members heavily impacted like Thompson, agree stricter requirements could be a game changer.
Harris said drivers should be required to take a golf cart safety class if they’re driving off the course.
Thompson, whose husband passed a few years after the accident, said a state law requiring seat belts for those on golf carts could save lives.
“I think for all the people it could save, I think it should be mandatory,” Thompson said.
“It’s not a perfect solution, but it would certainly decrease the number of overall injuries,” Babiarz said.
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