Golf Carts in Laguna Beach

Two kinds of vehicle

The California Vehicle Code defines these two vehicles in separate sections, and the rules differ.

A golf cart has at least three wheels in contact with the ground and an unladen weight under 1,300 pounds. It is designed to run at no more than 15 miles per hour, and it is designed to carry golf equipment and no more than two people, including the driver.

A low-speed vehicle has four wheels. It can reach more than 20 and no more than 25 miles per hour in one mile on a paved, level surface, and it has a gross vehicle weight rating under 3,000 pounds. The code also calls it a neighborhood electric vehicle. It is not a golf cart, except when it operates under section 21115 or 21115.1, the sections on golf cart roads and crossings.

Dealers who sell a low-speed vehicle must give the buyer a disclosure statement about its operation.

Golf carts on public roads

The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles says a golf cart may not operate on a highway with a posted speed limit above 25 miles per hour, unless a city or county allows it by ordinance or resolution.

Section 21115 of the Vehicle Code lets a local authority do that near a golf course. A city or county can designate a highway that sits next to or leads to a golf course and runs between the course and the place where carts are parked or stored, or one inside a real estate development that offers golf facilities. Outside a development, the designation cannot run more than one mile from the golf course. The rules for the road can set crossing zones, speed limits and other operating standards. They cannot require registration, licensing or equipment, except that a cart driven in darkness must meet the equipment rules the code applies to motorcycles. None of it takes effect until signs go up along the road.

Section 21115.1 lets a local authority set up golf cart crossing zones on a street that is not a state highway, has a posted limit of 45 miles per hour or less and runs next to a golf course. Carts may use those crossings only outside darkness, and the law enforcement agency for the street must approve the setup first.

On registration, the DMV says:

• A golf cart used within one mile of a golf course, on a highway designated for that use by ordinance or resolution, needs no registration.
• To register a golf cart for the road, the owner submits an Application for Title or Registration (REG 343), proof of ownership, a Verification of Vehicle (REG 31) and a signed Statement of Facts (REG 256) that says the cart is unmodified and meets the golf cart definition.
• The verification must show a label that certifies compliance with California emission requirements for on-road use. Without that label, the cart can be registered only for off-highway use.
• A cart modified to go faster than 15 miles per hour, or to carry more than two people, counts as a regular motor vehicle and must meet the federal safety standards for a passenger vehicle.

Low-speed vehicles on public roads

The Vehicle Code treats a low-speed vehicle as a motor vehicle. Its driver follows the rules that apply to the driver of a motor vehicle, with exceptions for areas with a neighborhood electric vehicle plan and for sections 4023, 21115 and 21115.1. One of those rules: the code bars driving a motor vehicle on a highway without a valid driver’s license. The code exempts a low-speed vehicle from registration only when it operates under section 21115 or 21115.1. The DMV says insurance is required on all vehicles operated or parked on California roads.

Four more rules shape where and how it runs:

• Federal standards. A low-speed vehicle on the roadway must meet the federal safety standards for low-speed vehicles. If someone modifies one to go faster than 25 miles per hour, it must meet every standard for a passenger vehicle.
• The 35 mph limit. The operator may not drive on a roadway with a speed limit above 35 miles per hour. An area with an adopted neighborhood electric vehicle transportation plan is an exception.
• Crossings. An operator may cross a road posted above 35 miles per hour if the crossing begins and ends on a road posted at 35 or less and meets that road at about a right angle. An operator may not cross an uncontrolled intersection with a state highway unless the agency that enforces traffic there has approved it.
• Local limits. A city can restrict or prohibit low-speed vehicles by ordinance or resolution. A local police agency or the California Highway Patrol can ban them from a roadway for public safety once signs are up.

The DMV driver handbook adds that these vehicles top out at 25 miles per hour. It tells drivers to watch for “NEV USE ONLY” and “NEV ROUTE” signs and markings, and it lists golf carts among the slow-moving vehicles that may use public roads.

What Laguna Beach adds

Two sections of the city’s traffic code, Title 10 of the municipal code, speak to golf carts and low-speed vehicles by name. We found no chapter or section there that designates a golf cart route.

Sidewalks. Section 10.02.020 makes it unlawful to operate a golf cart or low-speed vehicle on any sidewalk on Pacific Coast Highway, within the central business district, on the Main Beach Boardwalk or anywhere in a city park. Authorized law enforcement personnel and people with disabilities are exempt. The same section bars bicycles from sidewalks, the Boardwalk and city parks.

Parking spaces. Section 10.06.230 lets the city manager set up parking spaces restricted to motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motorized bicycles and golf carts. For that section, the code counts a neighborhood electric vehicle or low-speed vehicle as a golf cart when it operates under section 21115 or 21115.1. The city’s public parking lots page links a Laguna Beach golf cart parking map.

Pacific Coast Highway is State Route 1, a state highway. The state rules on crossing a state highway therefore matter wherever a trip meets the coast highway. The posted speed limit of each road you plan to use still decides whether a low-speed vehicle may use it.

Private communities

Laguna Beach has gated and HOA communities, and their associations set rules on matters such as guest parking and beach access. Ask the association whether it has rules for golf carts or low-speed vehicles on its private streets before you buy a vehicle. See Cost of living for how gated communities work, and Emerald Bay for one example.

Before you buy or drive

1. Identify the vehicle under the Vehicle Code: a golf cart, or a low-speed vehicle with four wheels and a 25 mph top speed.
2. Read the posted speed limit on every road in your route. A low-speed vehicle may not use a road posted above 35 mph.
3. Plan around the sidewalk bans on Pacific Coast Highway, downtown, the Main Beach Boardwalk and the parks.
4. Check the city’s golf cart parking map before you head to the Village. See Parking and permits for the lots.
5. Confirm registration, a driver license and insurance with the DMV before the first drive.
6. Ask the Laguna Beach Police Department about a particular street. The non-emergency line is (949) 497-0701.

For the other ways to move around town, see Getting around.