Early summer and a clear Friday night. Two young men park curbside in the fire lane and enter the liquor store. Their young female companion sits, knees drawn up, in the rear of the golf cart, waiting.
Not long after, a couple out for a Sunday afternoon drove their golf cart by the Suffolk County Police Department substation, pausing at the stop sign before turning left on to Clinton Street, a deep pink “caution” triangle where a license plate should have been.
Two more carts filled a single parking space outside a restaurant in town. Or sat with other assorted vehicles in the driveway of a home near the school where kids and adults had gathered around a pool, hoping to beat the heat of a July afternoon.
Cute and fun to drive, golf carts are frequently being seen around town, their passengers at risk for serious liability or injury should an accident happen.
With a top speed of under 20 miles per hour, golf carts are not equipped with any of the safety features—seat belts, anti-lock brakes, air bags—standard on registered cars and trucks, making them more dangerous to drive anywhere, especially on the road.
According to a March 2026 post on the Cart Finder blog (thecartfinder.com), “a standard golf cart cannot be registered with NYSDMV, cannot receive a license plate and has no legal pathway on to any public road in the state. Without registration (including a license plate and VIN) they cannot be driven legally on any public road or highway in the state.”
Beyond the unregistered vehicle liability, there is the obvious risk to safety. An accident involving a golf cart can be deadly as well as costly.
On its May 12, 2026 press release, NYS Trooper reported a mid-afternoon crash where a Ford 150 pickup truck traveling on NYS Route 12 struck a golf cart that was attempting to cross from the east shoulder to the opposite side of the road. Fire, ambulance, and emergency services responded. The driver of the golf cart was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eighteen-year-old Courtney Greene was charged with criminally negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter, and driving while impaired by the Genessee County Sheriff’s Office after her friend was killed when the golf cart they were riding in on a country road was struck from behind.
Yet, people continue to drive them, despite some sobering statistics.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, “there were an estimated 147,696 golf cart-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms during the period 2008 - 2018.” The primary issues: they operate at lower speeds in traffic with heavier, larger vehicles; the designs limit visibility and lack sufficient structural protections; they lack safety features like doors, seat belts, mirrors, lights, airbags, reinforced frames; driver inexperience and impairment.
And children are among the most vulnerable passengers in a crash, often suffering severe trauma and brain injuries.
What consequences would a driver face legally and from an insurance claim if an accident occurred? “They should have Golf Cart Insurance, whether street legal or not,” said Catherine S., insurance agent and retired Nassau County police officer. “If an accident occurs, whether there are injuries or not, it would become a lawsuit for the not-at-fault party to recover damages if the golf cart is not insured.
Everyone who is legally insured has uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage. They would be covered by their own insurance and then have to fight to get reimbursed. It would take years to settle the claim.”
“The uninsured golf cart operator would be charged with a misdemeanor, and possibly a felony, depending on the details of the accident. A golf cart can never be legal on any public road in New York State because it does not have a vehicle identification number (VIN). Impaired drivers can be charged with DWI, also,” she said.
