Illinois Golf Carts Need a Local Ordinance; Low-Speed Vehicles Do Not

The delegation is the whole mechanism on the golf cart side. Subsection (b) of 625 ILCS 5/11-1426.1 states a flat prohibition first, then makes it conditional: it is unlawful to drive a non-highway vehicle upon any street, highway or roadway in Illinois, and if operation is authorised under subsection (d) the vehicle may be operated only on streets where the posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less. Subsection (d) supplies the authorisation route. A municipality, township, county or other unit of local government may authorise, by ordinance or resolution, operation on roadways under its jurisdiction if it determines that public safety will not be jeopardized, and the Illinois Department of Transportation may do the same for roadways under its own jurisdiction. Either may restrict which types of non-highway vehicle are allowed, so a village can open its streets to golf carts while keeping all-terrain vehicles off them.

The procedure is specified, not left to the council. Before permitting operation, the unit of local government or the Department must consider the volume, speed, and character of traffic on the roadway and determine whether non-highway vehicles may safely travel on or cross it. Once it so determines and adopts the ordinance or resolution, appropriate signs shall be posted. Where a roadway is under the jurisdiction of more than one unit of government, non-highway vehicles may not be operated on it unless each unit agrees and takes action. That last rule is why a cart route often stops at a village limit or at a county line road, and it is the opposite of the low-speed vehicle rule in 11-1426.2(e), where joint jurisdiction means the vehicle is allowed unless every unit agrees to prohibit it.

The category is broader than golf carts. Section 11-1426.1(a) defines a non-highway vehicle as a motor vehicle not specifically designed for use on a public highway and lists an all-terrain vehicle under 625 ILCS 5/1-101.8, a golf cart under 1-123.9, an off-highway motorcycle under 1-153.1, and a recreational off-highway vehicle under 1-168.8. Section 1-123.9 defines a golf cart by design and intended purpose, transporting persons and their golf clubs or course maintenance equipment, so a cart keeps that classification whatever the owner uses it for. Two hard geographic limits apply no matter what the local ordinance says: no non-highway vehicle may make a direct crossing of any tollroad, interstate highway or controlled access highway, and a crossing of any other State-jurisdiction highway may be made only at an intersection with another public street, road or highway. Crossing a road posted above 35 miles per hour at an intersection is not prohibited by subsection (b), even though travel along such a road is.

The cart itself has to be equipped like a road vehicle. Subsection (e) requires brakes, a steering apparatus, tires, a rearview mirror, red reflectorized warning devices front and rear, a slow moving vehicle emblem on the rear as required by 625 ILCS 5/12-709, a headlight visible from 500 feet to the front, a tail lamp visible from at least 100 feet to the rear, brake lights and turn signals, with lamps lit as required by 12-201. The driver must hold a valid driver license issued by the Secretary of State or a foreign jurisdiction under subsection (b-5), the owner is subject to the mandatory insurance requirements of Article VI of Chapter 7 under subsection (g), and the drunk driving sections 11-500 through 11-502 apply on a roadway under subsection (f). Subsection (h) carves out farming, but only for all-terrain vehicles and recreational off-highway vehicles, not golf carts: those may run on a county or township roadway for farming operations, exempt from the equipment and motor vehicle insurance rules, if they carry farm, home or non-highway vehicle coverage at least equal to the 625 ILCS 5/7-203 minimums.

A low-speed vehicle is a different animal in law. Section 1-140.7 defines it as any four-wheeled vehicle with a maximum speed greater than 20 but not greater than 25 miles per hour that conforms to the federal standards in 49 C.F.R. Part 571.500. Under 11-1426.2(a) it is lawful to drive one on any Illinois street posted at 30 miles per hour or less, and under subsection (e-5) a unit of local government may by ordinance authorise use on its streets posted above 30 but not above 35 miles per hour, after weighing the same volume, speed and character of traffic and posting signs. Crossings are allowed at an intersection where the street being crossed is posted at not more than 45 miles per hour, and above that only at an intersection controlled by a traffic light or a four-way stop. A local government or IDOT may prohibit low-speed vehicles on its streets by ordinance, resolution or regulation where it finds public safety would be jeopardized, with signs posted under the State Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices adopted under 11-301.

Because a low-speed vehicle is a registered motor vehicle, the paperwork is real. The owner must secure a certificate of title and display valid registration under 11-1426.2(l), 625 ILCS 5/3-101(e) requires a title for every low-speed vehicle manufactured after January 1, 2010, registration under 625 ILCS 5/3-805.5 costs an annual fee of $18, and the certificate of title fee is $30 under 625 ILCS 5/3-821. Equipment under 11-1426.2(f) is heavier than for a golf cart, adding a parking brake, a windshield conforming to 49 CFR 571.205 glazing standards, a vehicle identification number, seat belts and a driver-side exterior mirror to the lamp and mirror list. Finally, 11-1426.1(i) and the identical 11-1426.2(k) provide that no action a local government takes under those sections designates operation as an intended or permitted use of property under Section 3-102 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, so a village that opens its streets to carts does not thereby assume a duty to maintain them for cart traffic.

1(b). The section fixes no penalty, so 625 ILCS 5/16-104 applies: a petty offense for a first or second conviction and a Class C misdemeanor for a third or subsequent conviction within one year of the first. Driving one without a valid driver license breaches subsection (b-5) and exposes the driver to the licensing offenses in Article II of Chapter 6, and driving without insurance breaches subsection (g) and the mandatory insurance provisions of Article VI of Chapter 7. Impairment is treated no differently from a car: subsection (f) applies 625 ILCS 5/11-500 through 11-502, so a DUI on a golf cart on a roadway is a DUI.

Enforcement is by state and local police, and by the local government whose ordinance created the route in the first place, since that ordinance can restrict vehicle types, hours and streets and can be repealed. 2(l) and 625 ILCS 5/3-101(e) is a registration offense rather than a rules-of-the-road one.