Slow ride: Minnesota communities tackle demand for golf carts on city streets

ROCHESTER — Golf carts aren't just for older residents or trips at the cabin anymore. This booming metropolitan area in southeast Minnesota is considering allowing them on city streets.

Rochester is crafting a potential ordinance to allow golf carts on public roadways after its City Council last month directed staff to look into the issue. An ordinance in Minnesota's third-largest city would be a big step for golf cart fans — instead of ambling streets in a small town, cart drivers could putter about within spitting distance of the high-speed traffic on Hwy. 52.

Rochester is following other communities across the state whose residents are looking for an economical way to get around, even if they're nowhere near a green.

"The carts that we sell these days are almost all street ready," said John Jordan of Ultimate Golf Carts, a dealer based out of Rogers.

Dealers say business has been booming for the past few years as street-ready golf carts — the kind with seatbelts, windshields, turn signals, headlights and other features — make up most new sales.

Supporters say golf carts are far more environmentally friendly (even the gas-powered ones) and typically have lower maintenance costs than the average car. Newer models can hold multiple people and can solve accessibility issues for those who have a hard time moving on their own.

And contrary to popular opinion, it's not just older customers looking for a ride — families use them to get around a cabin site, on farmland or big campuses and, increasingly, on pavement.

Rochester City Council Member Shaun Palmer often sees people tooling around on golf carts when he goes north to lake country. That's part of the reason why he took up the issue after he met someone interested in legally driving her cart on the street.

"She has a neighbor who, every time this woman took her golf cart out, would call the police because right now the ordinance is written that you can only go to and from a golf course," Palmer said.

Palmer said city staff told him they see no issue with a golf cart ordinance as long as drivers accept regulations and low speed limits.

Minnesota has had guidelines for cities to regulate carts and other kinds of off-road vehicles for decades: Only operate between sunrise and sunset. Don't drive on roads with speed limits above 35 mph. Don't drive in bad weather. Your cart is going to be treated like a motor vehicle, so obey all traffic laws.

Many communities, including Rochester, typically allow golf carts on streets to get to and from golf courses. Communities that allow carts on other public roads also typically require insurance and local permits.

Some communities like Shakopee and Prior Lake have had cart ordinances on the books for more than a decade. Others like Sartell, near St. Cloud, have passed ordinances within the past few years. Even counties are getting in on the issue — Crow Wing County signed an ordinance in 2019 allowing carts on certain county roads as long as nearby cities and townships approved.

A new ordinance doesn't necessarily mean people will clog the streets with carts, however. Faribault signed off on a policy in 2019, but golf cart drivers generally have stuck to neighborhoods close to golf courses.

"Not many people are going to take a golf cart grocery shopping, although in theory it could be legal," Faribault Police Chief John Sherwin said. "I don't see a lot of that here."

Rochester is looking at a potential policy to limit golf carts to city streets with 25 mph speed limits, meaning drivers couldn't legally drive on some of the busier thoroughfares.

Yet the city of more than 120,000 residents has issued only three permits under existing golf cart rules, leading some critics to question whether an ordinance is truly needed.

The council voted 5-2 on July 24 in favor of proposing an ordinance, with Patrick Keane and Molly Dennis dissenting. Dennis said she was concerned an ordinance would lead to accidents with more severe injuries than a regular car crash.

"We have a lot of people who are distracted drivers," she said.

Safety issues

Critics say there's good reason to be cautious. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates about 20,000 golf-cart related injuries occur that require emergency room treatment inn each year since 2013. Ejections and rollovers can cause the most severe injuries, especially to the head, according to safety advocates with the National Golf Cart Association.

A 2021 study at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia tracked golf cart-related injuries across the country. Researchers found close to 64,000 injures from 2010 through 2019. Most injuries were superficial, but fractures and dislocations were common.

"A golf cart is not as stable as a vehicle," Sherwin said. "Then again, a full-sized pickup truck is [safer] than a Smart car, but that doesn't mean we limit those things."

Bruce Lawrence, a recreational vehicle coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said state DNR or law enforcement don't typically deal with the low speed vehicles. Yet officials still see drivers riding on state highways, and even drivers younger than 16 operating the carts.

"Kids are driving in traffic lanes," Lawrence said. "So there's traffic issues there."

Safety concerns are enough to give some communities pause. Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott advised against a street policy for golf carts in city commission discussions last year, noting the street system isn't designed to allow carts to share the road with cars and trucks.

Safety was the driving factor behind North Mankato's unique ordinance, which the city adopted a few weeks ago after years of debate about the safety of travel between the steep hills of the bluffs of Upper North and Lower North in the valley just before the Minnesota River.

The council unanimously approved an ordinance on July 17 that limits golf carts to neighborhoods in either Upper or Lower North with no travel in between.

"The council [previously] decided it's not really worth it because it's so limited where you could use these," City Administrator Kevin McCann said. "Fast forward to the current council, the request came up again ... and they approved it."

In Rochester, it will take a few weeks for staff to pull together an ordinance. Palmer believes the council likely will support a new golf cart policy, in part because the city can model guidelines from other communities and across the state.

"I was kind of surprised by the rules that we have" across Minnesota, Palmer said. "It really impressed me."