Golf cart ordinance will be enforced; parents and children will be ticketed

For more than a year Demopolis has had a golf cart ordinance on the books. Now it will be enforced.

Police Chief Rex Flowers said the ordinance states that only licensed drivers may operate a golf cart on city streets. In addition, the cart can carry no more than the number of passengers it is designed for.

He said both underaged golf cart drivers and their parents will be ticketed if violations occur and will be required to appear in City Court.

“I know this is a touchy, touchy subject,” Mayor Woody Collins told the City Council Thursday, “but I don’t think there is a man on this Council that could live with himself if something happened to a child on a golf cart.”

“It’s time to stop” before there is a tragedy, said Councilman Bill Meador. “We’ve seen too much, we’ve gotten phone calls about the loading up of carts, the recklessness of it.”

“People have had a year and a half to know what the ordinance is,” said Councilman Jim Stanford, “and now we’re basically asking the chief to start writing tickets and start the fine system.”

 He said the community is encouraged to report violations if they see any.