So far, local law enforcement says Baldwin County has been “lucky.”

As the number of injuries due to golf cart crashes swells each year across the nation, Baldwin County, the only county in Alabama that allows a version of those vehicles on city streets, has suffered no deaths.

Officers are urging parents to learn the laws and keep their children out of the driver’s seat to keep it that way.

Police said the number of reports of children driving golf carts, often erratically on city streets, has increased in recent weeks. Neighborhood Facebook posts tattling about the antics of golf cart tooling teens have surged as well.

“An underage young person driving that cart doesn’t necessarily have the skills to drive and they are not looking out for what they need to do when they come up against a 3,000-pound vehicle,” said Capt. Clint Cadenhead, of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department. “The golf cart is certainly going to lose that battle.”

Not only are children unprepared to drive properly it is illegal for them to do so. Golf cart drivers are required to hold a valid driver’s license. Lt. Shane Nolte, of the Fairhope Police Department, said many people do not understand the rules.

“The biggest issue is that it’s a road ready golf cart and we treat it just like a vehicle. A lot of people don’t understand that so they think the road rules don’t apply to them,” Nolte said.

“They don’t realize any child that has to be in a car seat in a vehicle has to be in car seat on a golf cart, that they have to wear a seat belt, that you have to have driver’s license to drive it,” he said.

Currently golf carts are illegal on all Alabama roadways but a change in the state law following the November 2016 elections gave municipal governments in Baldwin County the power to allow limited operation of low-speed vehicles on designated public streets.

In Fairhope licensed drivers are allowed to use low-speed vehicles (LSVs) which are similar to golf carts but manufactured to meet federal safety standards. In Gulf Shores both golf carts and LSVs are allowed.

Nolte said officers are more frequently stopping preteens and younger children who they find driving golf carts on the street.

The children are usually held until a parent comes to pick them up and the officer can explain the law regarding the vehicles. However, Nolte said frequent rule breakers can be ticketed for driving without a license which can result in increased auto insurance premiums.

“Every situation is different. We don’t just want to be hateful to everybody when they may not have known the rule. This is our chance to educate them,” Nolte said.

The officers’ biggest concern, he said, is safety.

Nolte said he can think of two recent golf cart accidents in Fairhope that sent riders to the hospital. In another, an unbuckled child fell out and was seriously injured. In June 2019 a driver on Canal Road in Orange Beach drove into a golf cart carrying five teenagers. Four of the teens were hospitalized.

Nationally, children sustain traumatic brain injuries from golf cart related injuries three times more often than adults. About 40 percent of golf cart accidents reported nationally involve children.

“We are asking parents to be responsible and keep up with their kids and know where they are going and be aware that they can’t just drive out on the roadway in a golf cart,” Cadenhead said. “We certainly don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

What is legal and where:

Golf Carts and four wheelers are not allowed on any street in Alabama, including those in Baldwin County.

Individual municipalities in Baldwin County have passed their own laws to allow either golf carts or LSV to be driven on city streets.

In Fairhope:

The cities of Fairhope LSVs are allowed only on streets that have a speed limit of 35 mph or less. They are not allowed to be driven on sidewalks. Police say they have seen drivers move onto sidewalks when they turn onto a road that is greater than 35 mph.

LSVs are to be driven by licensed and insured drivers only. Police have seen an uptick in children driving these vehicles illegally this summer on city streets. LSVs must be registered by the DMV.

In Gulf Shores:

Both golf carts and low-speed vehicles are allowed but only on designated cart streets. All designated cart streets have a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less. Drivers must hold a valid drivers’ license.

Other requirements are:

-Traditional golf carts must be equipped with approved seat belts for each occupant, head lights, brake lights, turn signals, a windshield, rear view mirror, brakes, steering apparatus, safe tires, red reflectorized warning dives on both the front and rear and an orange warning flag displayed at least six feet above the ground.

-Can only be on city streets between the hours of sunrise and sunset

-Headlights must be on at all times.

-Drivers must adhere to all state and municipal laws applicable to the operation of motor vehicles

-All occupants must wear seat belts

-All carts must be inspected and hold a valid permit sticker issued by the Gulf Shores Police Department

-Proof of insurance for the cart is required for registration

In Orange Beach:

Mayor Tony Kennon said city officials are still ironing out the plan that allows the vehicles on city streets. The issue dropped to the bottom of the priority list in 2020 after the spread of COVID-19 and damage caused by Hurricane Sally required immediate attention.

Kennon said he expects the requirements in Orange Beach to be similar to those in other municipalities and that the vehicles will need to be inspected and registered. Details may be available as early as fall, 2021.