Night driving, seatbelts discussed at Bluffton golf cart usage workshop

The sight of a golf cart driving on the road next to cars in Bluffton is a signal to newcomers that this is a relaxed, outdoorsy place to be. The low-speed vehicles are so common across the Lowcountry that they’ve evolved into a preferred method of transportation for visits to friends or restaurants.

Residents and government officials on Tuesday agreed that golf carts are part of what makes Bluffton special. But, some said, they want to make sure neighbors are operating them safely.

On Tuesday, the council hosted a public meeting and workshop to discuss potential restrictions on golf cart usage on top of a state baseline established in May. The meeting was a discussion and no votes were taken. The first reading of a potential ordinance is scheduled for the regular council meeting in September.

“We’re keeping the golf cart culture of Bluffton alive,” Mayor Pro-Tempore Dan Wood said. “That’s what we’re really working towards here, we’re just trying to make it manageable.”

State law requires children 12 and under to wear seatbelts while riding in carts, and it requires drivers to be at least 16 years old, with a drivers license, proof of liability insurance and a permit decal and registration certificate from the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Carts can only be driven on roads with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less, and night driving can be allowed at the discretion of towns or cities, as long as carts have working headlights and taillights.

Seven golf cart-related collisions have happened in Bluffton between 2024 and 2025, chief of police Joseph Babkiewicz said. Out of the seven, five happened inside subdivisions.

Wearing a black t-shirt with the words “They See Me Rollin’” in white over an image of a golf cart, Alljoy resident Brendan Downey said he hopes the council will vote to allow nighttime cart driving.

“A lot of people use golf carts to go out to restaurants,” Downey said. “It’s a great thing to have, and I hope you guys go forward with at least the night driving.”

Council members seemed to be largely in favor of night driving. But some, like Wood, said they also favor putting additional safety precautions in place, like requiring all riders to wear seatbelts.

Shell Hall resident Chuck Valentino, who said he is a retired safety professional, said safety has to be a priority. He proposed limiting the number of people allowed to ride in a golf cart and not allowing carts to be parked in front of emergency equipment, like fire hydrants.

Wood said he doesn’t see why requiring seatbelts should be an issue. People put them on anytime they get in their cars, he said.

“We have seen people going through the four-way stop with one hand on the steering wheel and an infant in the other arm. We’ve seen the golf carts loaded up – I’ve seen them multiple times with seven or eight people hanging all over the place,” he said.

Mayor Larry Toomer said he thinks it makes sense for seatbelt and child restraint rules to be the same as they would be in a car, since golf carts don’t have the benefit of walls as a shield from danger.

“I know it would bother me a lot if we said, ‘okay, you guys can ride out with no seatbelts on’ and then a kid gets in an accident or killed or whatever, and it’s like ‘oh, well, Bluffton said you didn’t have to wear a seatbelt, even though common sense does tell you seatbelts save lives,” Toomer said.

State law allows localities to either adopt their own additional rules and regulations for golf carts, or follow a set of rules outlined in the law. Last week, the city of Beaufort considered its own ordinance, which is set for approval at the council’s Sept. 9 meeting.

Bluffton director of growth management Kevin Icard said staff will work on an ordinance to be read at the council’s September meeting. Without an ordinance, Bluffton residents would have to abide by the following rules:

-No operating a golf cart at night.

-The cart can only be operated on a secondary highway with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less.

-The cart cannot be driven more than 4 miles from the address on the registration certificate, or within 4 miles of a point of ingress and egress if the address is in a gated community.

-Carts may cross a highway at an intersection where the speed limit is more than 35 miles per hour.

-Passengers under the age of 12 must wear a fastened safety belt.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 10:22 AM.