Pennsylvania Golf Carts May Only Cross a Road, Not Drive on It

Chapter 77A, "Operation of Golf Carts," was added to Title 75 by Act 57 of 2017 and took effect 60 days after November 29, 2017. Section 77A01(a) states the rule bluntly: except as described under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1302(3) or (14) or otherwise provided in the chapter, it is unlawful to operate a golf cart on any highway. There is no registration path, no permit, no local opt-in that turns a golf cart into a street vehicle in Pennsylvania. Section 1102(2) confirms the vehicle's status from the other direction: no certificate of title is required for a golf cart unless it is registered in the Commonwealth, and nothing in Title 75 provides for registering one.

What the chapter does allow is a crossing. Under § 77A01(b), a golf cart may make a direct crossing of a highway if three conditions are all met: the crossing is made at an angle of approximately 90 degrees to the direction of the highway and at a place where no obstruction prevents a quick and safe crossing, the cart is brought to a complete stop before crossing the shoulder or main-traveled way, and the driver yields the right-of-way to all oncoming traffic. Driving along the shoulder between two crossings is not authorized by anything in the chapter.

Section 77A02 supplies the formal designation machinery that Pennsylvania golf communities use. PennDOT on State-designated highways, and a local authority on highways within its own jurisdiction, may designate a crossing as a golf cart crossing with official traffic-control devices, and adequate notice of the designation must be sufficiently and prominently displayed. The cost allocation in § 77A02(c) is the provision worth knowing before petitioning a township: if the crossing is beneficial to residents of a homeowners association, a private college or other private entity, that association, college or entity is responsible for the costs incurred by the department or political subdivision. Section 77A02(d) then bars any liability on the Commonwealth, a State agency or a political subdivision arising out of the designation.

Age rules sit in § 77A03 and are stricter than most people assume. A person under 12 years of age may not operate a golf cart at all, and a person between 12 and 16 may not drive one across any highway unless under the direct supervision of a person 18 years of age or older. The Vehicle Code defines a golf cart at § 102 as a self-propelled motor vehicle designed and manufactured for the transportation of persons or equipment for sporting, maintenance or recreational purposes that is not capable of exceeding a speed of 20 miles per hour, a definition added by the same Act 57 of 2017.

The registration exemptions that § 77A01(a) points to are narrow. Section 1302(3) exempts a self-propelled golf cart used to transport persons or equipment for sporting, maintenance or recreational purposes while crossing certain public highways. Section 1302(14) exempts a vehicle used for golf course, resort, or college, university or seminary campus maintenance where it does not travel on public roads in excess of one mile and the property on both sides of the road is owned by that golf course, resort or institution.

The street-legal alternative is the neighborhood electric vehicle, governed by Subchapter F of Chapter 35, §§ 3591 through 3596, added by Act 177 of 2014 and effective May 1, 2015. Section 102 defines an NEV as a four-wheeled electric vehicle with a maximum design speed of not less than 20 and not more than 25 miles per hour that complies with the Federal low-speed vehicle standard at 49 CFR 571.500. Section 3594 makes an NEV a passenger car for purposes of Part II of the Vehicle Code, covering title, registration and licensing, and for the restraint-system requirements of § 4581, so unlike a golf cart it is titled, registered and plated.

Where an NEV may go is set by posted speed rather than by road class. Under § 3593(a)(1) it may not be operated on a PennDOT roadway posted above 25 mph, though § 3593(a)(2) lets the Secretary of Transportation permit use by order on roads posted above 25 but not above 35 mph, with any such order published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Local authorities have the mirror powers under § 3593(b): by ordinance or resolution they may open a local road posted above 25 up to 35 mph, or prohibit NEVs on a road they find hazardous. Crossings follow their own rule in § 3593(c) and (d): an NEV may cross a road posted at 35 mph or less, but if that road has more than two lanes or is divided, only at a signalized intersection, and a road posted above 35 mph may be crossed only at a signalized intersection.

Equipment is prescribed in § 3592. Beyond compliance with 49 CFR 571.500, an NEV must have adequate brakes, an odometer, a speedometer, the original manufacturer's VIN die stamped on the body, frame, engine or motor, a windshield wiper, a horn and a battery charge indicator, and it is exempt from equipment requirements not listed in the subchapter. Section 3592(c) requires a manufacturer-supplied decal reading "25 MPH Vehicle" on the rear in prominent lettering, at least 4 inches high by 10 inches long. Section 3595 limits passengers to the number of available safety belts. Insurance is set at reduced limits by 75 Pa.C.S. § 1788: $15,000 for injury to one person, $30,000 for two or more, and $5,000 for property damage, with no other coverage in the chapter required or offered. Finally, § 3596 requires the purchaser of a new NEV to sign a manufacturer-prepared waiver certifying knowledge of the vehicle's potentially hazardous characteristics, and provides that signing it eliminates the liability of the manufacturer, its agent and the dealer.

§ 77A01(a). § 6502(a) applies and the offense is a summary offense carrying a $25 fine, with Title 18's general summary penalties excluded by § 6502(c). Letting a child under 12 drive a golf cart, or a 12 to 16 year old cross a highway without the direct supervision of someone 18 or older, violates § 77A03 and is charged the same way. For neighborhood electric vehicles the statute is explicit: § 3592(d) subjects an operator whose NEV lacks the prescribed equipment, including the 4 by 10 inch "25 MPH Vehicle" decal, to the penalties in § 6502, and § 3593(e) does the same for anyone operating on or crossing a roadway in violation of the posted-speed and signalized-intersection limits.

Because § 3594 treats an NEV as a passenger car for title, registration and licensing, the ordinary registration, inspection and financial-responsibility enforcement of Title 75 applies to it as well, including the $15,000/$30,000/$5,000 coverage floor in § 1788. Section 77A02(d) bars any claim against PennDOT or a political subdivision arising from the designation of a golf cart crossing.