FORT MILL, S.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Fort Mill has had an influx of people purchasing golf carts to get around their neighborhood, but there’s also been an increase in people taking them on main roads.
That’s why officials are reminding people that golf carts come with some rules.
For companies that service, soup up, or sell golf carts, business is booming.
“This year’s been the busiest year we’ve ever had,” World Famous Golf employee Austin King said. “Last year we thought was pretty busy.”
Some dealers say they’re three months out on orders.
“The past week, we were working until about midnight every night and starting at five, so the parades were coming up,” King said.
This weekend, Fort Mill experienced scenes of golf cart parades with families decking them out with red white and blue.
Fort Mill, it seems everybody has a golf cart,” visitor Jean Rupert said. “We just participated in the Fourth of July celebration. There was a huge parade.”
In terms of mishaps, Fort Mill Police say they’ve only had one in April when a couple was significantly hurt after the driver crashed a golf cart into a parked car.
But the police department has been issuing flyers to HOA’s and communities listing the rules of the road.
“Our reasoning behind this is to do something that’s strictly proactive to try to get information out there that educates the public, gives them some information about what they can legally do and not do under current state law,” Major Bryan Zachary with the Fort Mill PD says.
For the most part, drivers say they’re keeping it safe.
“We keep it right in the neighborhood just on these side roads, and that’s it!” another resident said.
Fort Mill Police are reminding people that drivers have to be 16 years old or older and have a driver’s license. They have to drive during the day and no farther than four miles from their home. And only on secondary roads where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less.
