Has anybody published NEV maps indicating all roads where our vehicles (and street legal golf carts) can legally be driven, plus designated crossings of major roads?
Neat idea. I imagine it would be hard to compile that info. My neighborhood only legalized golf carts last year. Getting my GEM legal was an entirely different mound of red tape.
There used to be a GEM app in the Apple Store that showed LSV accessible routes. I recall using it briefly as it wasn’t very effective. Not sure it is still published will go check.
I actually took street maps of our local beach city to our city traffic manager to work with him to try to open other areas of our town for access to the beach and downtown area. Got some great maps, not much progress on opening access. The biggest thing I learned was to request notifications when the city is changing speed limits on the local roads. That way I may get some input and can possibly prevent sppeds getting raised to 40 on current 35 roadways.
Google maps will allow you to search by speed limit if you drill way down in the searches. In California we can drive on any public street posted 35 mph or less.
Hbbill,
Are street legal golf carts allowed to drive along the occasional State and Federal roads marked 35 mph or less? From what I read it seems that GEMs are allowed, but maybe not golf carts.
Streets have low speed limits for a number of reasons; it may be due to the design speed, which is not only curves but also objects too close to the road; it may be the accident history of that stretch of road; and it can simply be politics.
I wonder if we can drive on sections of road under construction if they have temporarily reduced the speed limit to 35 mph. The law writers may have missed that one!
Yup, here is the federal law:
Low-Speed Vehicle Access to Roadways
A low-speed vehicle is defined as a four-wheeled motor vehicle, other than an all-terrain vehicle, that is capable of reaching speeds of at least 20 miles per hour (mph) but not greater than 25 mph, has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds, and meets the safety standards in Title 49 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, section 571.500. A low-speed vehicle may operate only on secondary highways with a posted speed limit of up to 35 mph, but may cross a highway with posted speed limits over 35 mph at an intersection. A low-speed vehicle must be registered and licensed in the same manner as a passenger vehicle and is subject to the same insurance requirements applicable to other motor vehicles. Homemade low-speed vehicles, retrofitted golf carts, or any other similar vehicles do not qualify as low-speed vehicles. (Reference South Carolina Code of Laws 56-1-10, 56-2-100 to 56-2-130, and 56-5-820)
Locally here in hb, a regular golf cart is limited to roads posted 25mph or lower. There’s one guy that keeps pushing it to get his club car to the golf course about 6 blocks from his house on a 35 road. The motorcycle cops have ticketed him multiple times. I told him to get a Gemcar.