MAGNOLIA SPRINGS — Golf cart traffic on the streets of Magnolia Springs has residents concerned about the safety of those traveling in the small vehicles, as well as the legality of their mode of transportation.

The topic was placed on the agenda for Tuesday’s Magnolia Springs Town Council meeting after law enforcement recently received numerous complaints about motorists driving golf carts on the town’s roads.

Lt. Tony Nolfe with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office addressed the council and gathered audience Tuesday.

“We’ve had to respond to a lot of calls about golf carts in the roadway and on some of the sidewalks, and the reality is that unless they meet some certain requirements, they are not legal to drive on the roadway,” Nolfe said.

Nolfe said those requirements — defined by the Alabama Code — include that the carts need to be tagged, have lighting including headlights and brake lights, be insured and they must also operated by a licensed driver over the age of 16 years old.

“A lot of these complaints we have been responding to have been based on the fact that there have been very young children driving these things,” Nolfe said.

“Luckily, nothing bad has happened yet, but it will just take that one time,” he said. “The reality is that these are heavy vehicles and they can get out of the control of a child. More so, you have all these other vehicles on the roadway as well.”

Deputy Sheriff Greg Smith, who patrols the roads in and around Magnolia Springs for the Sheriff’s Office, said he and Nolfe wanted to address the council and the public to make everyone aware of the laws on the books.

“The whole purpose of this is to let everyone know what the law is,” Smith said. “We are not trying to spring anything on them. We are trying to get voluntary compliance so we don’t have to take enforcement action.”

Nolfe added that if someone underage were pulled over while operating a golf cart on town roadways, they would not be the only one in trouble with the law.

“As far as letting an underage person drive one of these vehicles, the actual owner is the one that is criminally liable,” Nolfe said. “It is not just a traffic violation. It can get ugly and expensive quickly.”

Section 32-5-65 of the Alabama Code stipulates that any owner or person in charge of any motor vehicle who permits any child under the age of 16 years to operate such motor vehicle on the public roadways would be guilty of a misdemeanor.