BRUSLY — A hit-and-run crash involving a Mercedes and a golf cart over the weekend in Brusly may result in charges for the 13-year-old girl driving the golf cart and the adults who allowed her to drive it, Brusly PD said.
Golf carts and all terrain vehicles are mostly prohibited on Louisiana roads. In places they are allowed, only licensed drivers can drive them.
Brusly Police said the golf cart was not properly equipped for street driving when the crash happened on Saturday afternoon.
The driver of the Mercedes that hit the golf cart has been arrested on hit-and-run driving and obstruction of justice.
“Everyone involved in this incident was in the wrong,” police said.
The restriction on golf carts has exceptions for police and emergency medical personnel and for employees of colleges and universities operating the carts on campus.
To make a golf cart street-legal, the cart must be registered as an off-road vehicle, and must have appropriate safety features, including headlights, brake lights, tail lights, turn signals and a rear view mirror.
If a golf course is divided by a street, carts can legally cross the street at a permitted crossing.
Parishes and municipalities can authorize golf cart use on specified streets under state law. Streets where golf carts can legally drive must have signs posted permitting it. Those local governments can also further restrict golf cart use. If they do, signs must be posted alerting people that the local law is more restrictive than state law.
The town of Addis, for example, made it legal to drive golf carts and utility vehicles on town roads earlier this year.
Most of the same rules apply to ATVs and utility terrain vehicles, or UTVs. An effort to loosen state restrictions specifically on all-terrain vehicles in the most recent legislative session failed.
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