Is it Legal to Drive a Golf Cart on the Streets of Evansville or the Surrounding Area
Almost every day I see my neighbors cruising around in golf carts on the street. As I usually do, I wondered about the legality of driving golf carts on residential streets. It's easy to just assume that driving golf carts throughout neighborhoods is perfectly legal, especially if you live in the county.
Understanding Golf Cart Classification:
To determine the legality of driving golf carts on residential streets, you first have to understand how they are classified. In Indiana, golf carts are not considered Off-Road vehicles, as defined by specific statutes or county ordinances. [ IC 14-8-2-185 ]
Evansville and Vanderburgh County Regulations:
According to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's website, the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County have not adopted any ordinance that permits a golf cart to be operated on any roadway within Vanderburgh County.
Operating a golf cart on the roadway is punishable as a Class C Infraction
Statement from the Vanderburgh Sheriff's Department Website:
Whether having sheriff’s deputies take time to enforce Indiana’s golf cart law is a good use of resources is a fair question. Deputies often have more pressing duties that would tend to take priority over writing a golf cart operator a ticket. While enforcement of the criminal code and more serious traffic violations does take priority, our deputies are sworn to take appropriate enforcement action whenever they observe a violation of any law. That action could include a verbal warning, a written warning, or a traffic citation. While the Sheriff’s Office has no plans for any coordinated enforcement effort against the operation of golf carts on Vanderburgh County roadways, our deputies will not ignore violations and will take appropriate enforcement action when warranted.
Vanderburgh County Ordinance 10.60 does permit an Off-Road Vehicle to be operated on the certain county roadways, but a golf cart is not considered an Off-Road vehicle as defined by IC 14-8-2-185 or the county ordiance.
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