Golf Cart Safety in The Villages, May 2014

Another Golf Cart Ejection Fatality THERE HAVE NOW BEEN AT LEAST FOURTEEN GOLF CART RELATED FATALITIES in The Villages in the last six years. In the last two years, in addition to four fatalities, there have been TWENTY-TWO golf cart occupants who were EJECTED from their golf cart and ONE who fell out of a golf cart that had to be etrauma alertedf to Shands, Ocala Regional or Orlando Regional Trauma Centers because of the severity of their injuries. NONE WERE WEARING A SEAT BELT. (We have no knowledge as to whether any of these life-threatening injuries resulted in an eventual fatality.) The latest golf cart accident which resulted in a FATALITY occurred on Sunday, February 16th - An 86 year old female golf cart operator was ejected from her cart when she collided with a car at the intersection of West Boone Court and Paradise Drive in the Village of Orange Blossom Gardens. Unfortunately, the Villager passed away on Saturday, February 22nd as a result of her injuries. Over the last two and one-half years, the POA Bulletin has featured a monthly article about golf cart accidents and ejections in The Villages and the role seat belts in golf carts might have played in saving lives. The April 2014 issue of the Bulletin might be described as a gcapstoneh article on golf cart safety and the role of seat belts in golf carts. When the POA first began featuring articles on golf cart safety, very little press was given to this important topic in The Villages Daily Sun. However, as is noted in the April issue of the POA Bulletin, the Daily Sun, the VHA, and The Villages Golf Cart Store are now suggesting that residents seriously consider using seat belts in their golf carts for general travel. We applaud this fairly recent emphasis on the role of seat belts in golf cart safety by both the VHA and the Daily Sun. The POA will now defer to the Daily Sun and other daily news outlets such as the on-line Villages-News.com for coverage of golf cart accidents and safety, primarily because they report daily, whereas the POA Bulletin is a monthly publication. The POA is proud to have emphasized the role of seat belts in golf cart safety very early on. Although we will not dedicate as much press to this topic as we have in the past, we urge all golf cart users to consider the use of seat belts in their carts, and to follow stories in the Daily Sun and the on-line Villages-News.com about golf cart safety and accidents.  

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