Vehicles: golf carts: operation on highways: senior citizens.

Existing law authorizes a local authority to permit, by ordinance or resolution, the operation of golf carts on a highway under certain circumstances. This bill would authorize a local authority, by ordinance or resolution, to permit a senior citizen to operate a golf cart on streets and highways under its jurisdiction that are designated under an ordinance or resolution. The bill would require the ordinance or resolution to include, among other things, a designation of the highways on which a golf cart may be operated, a requirement that a person desiring to operate a golf cart as authorized apply to the local authority for a permit to operate the golf cart and an identification sticker for the golf cart, and a provision prohibiting the operation of a golf cart as authorized unless the permit has been issued and the sticker is affixed to the golf cart. The bill would prohibit the local authority from authorizing the operation of a golf cart on a highway with a speed limit of more than 25 miles per hour. The bill would also prohibit the local authority from authorizing the crossing of a highway with a speed limit of more than 25 miles per hour, or the crossing of a state highway, by a golf cart, unless that crossing is authorized by the agency having primary traffic enforcement authority over the highway. The bill would specify that a driver's license is not required to operate a golf cart as authorized under the ordinance or resolution and would also specify that a golf cart operated as authorized under the ordinance or resolution is not required to comply with certain motor vehicle equipment requirements. The bill would make it an infraction to operate a golf cart in violation of these provisions or of an ordinance or resolution adopted as authorized. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.