Golf carts regularly drive next to major roads in Myrtle Beach area. Is it legal?
Golf carts are often used in the Myrtle Beach area to get from Point A to Point B, even if it means the driver makes their own path to avoid riding on a major roadway and risk getting a ticket.
But even driving next to a roadway in the grass or sand is against the law in certain instances and could land the operator a large fine — and possibly jail time.
South Carolina law outlines several rules for operating a golf cart in the state. The law was updated in May, giving local governments more flexibility in regulating golf carts.
Cities in Horry County have their own ordinances that govern the vehicles.
Golf carts can only be operated on a highway where the speed limit is 35 mph or less. In the Myrtle Beach area, that eliminates many main roadways that run throughout the Grand Strand.
That often means that golf cart drivers will take to driving alongside a roadway.
The law allows municipalities or a county to designate separate golf cart paths on the shoulder of primary highways, secondary highways, streets and roads.
However, the golf cart path has to be separated from traffic lanes by a distance of 4 feet or more, by a hard concrete curb or by parking spaces.
Some gated communities, campground resorts and towns have designated golf cart paths.
What is the golf cart law in Horry County?
Horry County doesn’t have a golf cart ordinance, operating instead according to state law, said county spokesperson Mikayla Moskov by text.
Since the law was updated earlier this year, the three cities along the Grand Strand enacted their own ordinances for the vehicles.
- Surfside Beach now allows drivers to operate golf carts with working lights any time of day or night. Under state law, golf carts can only be operated during daylight hours, meaning 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. normally and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during daylight savings time.
- North Myrtle Beach allows the operation of golf carts from sunrise to sunset.
- Conway permits golf carts on certain primary highways from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
If there is no enacted ordinance, then a golf cart can cross a highway at an intersection where the speed limit is more than 35 mph, and only be operated within four miles of the address on the registration certificate or within a point of ingress or egress of a gated community if the address is within a gated community.
Also under the updated state law, each golf cart passenger under the age of 12 is required to wear a fastened safety belt when the golf cart is being operated on a public street or highway.
