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Thousands hurt in golf cart accidents annually

Posted at 12:09 PM, Feb 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-24 12:17:16-05

Jim Grossman golfs when he can, but two years ago that came to a halt. He says the golf cart he and a friend were riding in collided with a car.

"I had a concussion of some sort, I had a broken type of nose, they don't do anything for it. and a slit on my nose which they surgically repaired. I had a broken rib and the biggest issue is that I had a broken elbow," he said.

According to The Journal of Preventive Medicine, thousands of people across the country are injured in golf cart accidents every year.

Attorney Gary Lesser has seen an increase. "I've handled a lot of cases over the years; in the last six months or so, I've been retained on four different golf cart cases."

Golf courses aren't the only places where golf carts are used. Some people use them to visit neighbors or even run errands. That's why Lesser says more needs to be done on where and how golf carts are used-- especially when it comes to seniors and children.

"Fifty years ago children were not driving golf carts. now they drive carts to see their friends down the road when they go to the store to get milk. And once that golf cart is on the road, with traffic and traffic conditions, that's very dangerous, very unsafe," Lesser said.

He says many states don't have a minimum age for driving a golf cart, but he says a rule should be put in place. "For a boating license, you have to have some type of training to go out boating, so there should be some type of test or license for driving a golf cart," Lesser said.
 
 And Grossman wants others to learn from his experience. "You have to be vigilant and you have to be observant."