Massachusetts Golf Carts vs Low-Speed Vehicles: Two Different Answers

The dividing line is the definition in G.L. c. 90, § 1. A low-speed motor vehicle is a four-wheeled vehicle whose speed attainable in one mile is more than 20 miles per hour and not more than 25 miles per hour on a paved level surface, with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds, complying with 49 C.F.R. § 571.500. The definition then lists the equipment that federal standard requires: headlamps, front and rear turn signal lamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, a driver's side exterior mirror plus either a passenger side exterior mirror or an interior mirror, a parking brake, a windshield conforming to the federal glazing standard, a conforming vehicle identification number, seat belts and red reflex reflectors on each side as far to the rear as practicable and on the rear.

A standard golf cart does not reach 20 miles per hour, so it falls below the floor of that definition and cannot be registered as a low-speed vehicle. Massachusetts did not then leave golf carts unaddressed. The Legislature wrote them into the registration statute itself: G.L. c. 90, § 9 permits a motor vehicle designed for the carrying of golf clubs and not more than four persons to be operated without registration upon any way, but only where it is being used solely to go from one part of the property of a golf course to another part of the property of that same golf course, and only where the owner has filed with the Registrar a public liability policy or bond covering damages to the amount provided by G.L. c. 90, § 34A. That is a crossing permission for a split course, not a licence to drive to the shops. The same paragraph of § 9 grants an identical carve-out to a motor vehicle owned by a cemetery moving between parts of the cemetery, which shows the drafter using this device deliberately and narrowly.

For a low-speed vehicle the requirements stack up before the wheels turn. Section 1F says a low-speed vehicle shall not be operated upon any public way unless it is registered under chapter 90, displays the registration number as provided in section 6, displays a slow moving vehicle emblem on the rear as required by section 7 and by 540 C.M.R. § 22.11, is equipped as required by 49 C.F.R. § 571.500, meets the insurance certificate requirements of section 34B, and is titled under chapter 90D. The Registrar issues passenger plates of suitable design for low-speed vehicles under G.L. c. 90, § 2G, at the fee set by clause 2 of section 33. Low-speed vehicles are subject to annual inspection under section 7A, except that a low-speed vehicle whose sole source of power is generated electrically is not subject to the emissions test.

Where a registered low-speed vehicle may go is defined twice, once positively and once by exception. Section 1F grants the right to use all public ways in the Commonwealth except limited access or express state highways and any public way with a speed limit of more than 30 miles per hour. It then adds a crossing rule: a low-speed vehicle may cross a public way at an intersection where the way being crossed is posted between 30 and 45 miles per hour, provided that both the way it is travelling on and the way it is crossing to are posted no higher than 30, and the intersection is controlled by traffic signals or stop signs.

Local and state authorities can narrow that further. A municipality may by ordinance prohibit low-speed vehicles on a way or part of a way within its jurisdiction regardless of posted speeds, where it finds an unreasonable risk of death or serious injury from general traffic conditions such as excessive speeds of other vehicles, traffic volumes, use by heavy trucks, or a speed limit that rises above 30 beyond the point where a low-speed vehicle could safely exit. The municipality must post signs. Under G.L. c. 85, § 2E the Department of Transportation holds the same power over state highways on the same findings, must post signs, and may set a fine of not more than $75 by regulation.

Drivers must be licensed. Section 1F bars operation by anyone under 16 and by anyone without a valid driver's licence, with a learner's permit exception for a person at least 16 accompanied by a licensed operator aged 21 or over with at least one year of driving experience seated beside the driver. A junior operator licence holder carries the same restrictions in a low-speed vehicle as in any other motor vehicle.

Massachusetts also created two neighbouring classes that are often confused with these. Under G.L. c. 90, § 1H the Registrar may register a vehicle, other than a low-speed vehicle, that exceeds 30 but cannot exceed 40 miles per hour, with a 40 mile per hour operating cap and no operation where the speed limit rises beyond 40. Under § 1I a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed cab may be registered as a motorcycle on similar terms. Neither class helps a golf cart, because both start well above a cart's capability.

Dealers carry a disclosure duty. G.L. c. 90, § 1G requires every licensed motor vehicle dealer and every person in the business of leasing or renting low-speed vehicles to give the customer a signed notice in at least 10 point type stating that the vehicle is a motor vehicle requiring registration, title and insurance, that it must be inspected within 7 days of registration, that a licence or permit is required, that the slow moving vehicle emblem must be displayed, and that it may not lawfully be operated above 25 miles per hour. The merchant keeps the signed original for at least 2 years and must make it available to the Registrar, the Attorney General's agents and police during business hours.

c. 90, § 9, punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for the first offense and not more than one thousand dollars for any subsequent offense. Section 9 adds that a violation does not make the vehicle a nuisance or the operator a trespasser and is not a defence in a tort action unless it was a proximate cause of the injury, but it is deemed evidence of negligence on the part of the violator, which matters in any civil claim arising from a cart on a road.

c. 90, § 1F carries its own penalty where none is otherwise provided in the chapter: a fine of not more than $75 for the first offense and not less than $75 nor more than $150 for a second and each subsequent offense. c. 85, § 2E can carry a fine of not more than $75. 500 equipment or that has lost its slow moving vehicle emblem will not pass.