It is becoming more popular than ever. Where once these little guys populated only country clubs, they now roam around suburban neighborhoods in flocks. When golf carts clung to the ties and retirement communities, their crash safety wasn’t so important. However, since people drive them regularly on public roads now, their crash test videos are very disturbing. Watch these brutal golf cart crash tests and see if you feel golf carts are safe.
Are golf carts safe?
Simply: no.
the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP), the US equivalent, just performed a full crash test procedure on a Club Car Villager, and the results are grim.
The group ran two tests on the camper, both 50 km/h (31 mph) crash tests, one head-on and one side-on. Take a look if you dare.
What happens if you hit a golf cart?
It showed a pretty grim outcome of crashing at 30 mph. Cars, trucks and SUVs have special designs such as crash zones and collapsible steering columns to absorb some of the impact of a collision. Golf carts don’t get any of that.
In a frontal impact, the upper half of the dummies are completely crushed by the golf cart’s steering wheel and shaft. It’s a very violent effect. Meanwhile, the lower half of the dolly is placed between the seat dash. Although the stroller has seat belts, they seem to have little effect on the doll.
The side effect is just as disastrous. There is almost no protection for the driver’s legs, hands or torso. The acting force strikes directly on the side of the driver’s body. The trolley is thrown aside, and the driver’s unprotected body is exposed to a great deal of impact.
Although I’m not a doctor, it’s hard to believe that anyone in either crash scenario would survive. But even if they did, the remains would be in tatters.
You should reconsider driving golf carts on the road
In the United States, many neighborhood communities allow golf carts to drive on public roads where the speed limit is less than 35 mph. It is important to reiterate that these accidents only happened at 31 miles per hour.
For what it’s worth, Euro NCAP said the cart had performed “very poorly and demonstrated serious risks of life-threatening injuries”.
