Rolling The Cart

cerberus

New Member
With what we are doing to our "golf cart" these days, there is a very important subject that needs to be addressed:

...SAFTEY...

Some people feel that a regular lap seat belt is sufficent enough to keep the occupant within the cart. This fact is true if you hit a bump or make a turn to fast. But with the speed and height of our carts, during a roll over, the lap belt will hold you to the cart. This brings up the very real possibility of one or more of the occupants being trapped underneath the cart, causing serious or fatal injuries.

What is needed is a true roll cage connected to major points on the cart. One that comes to mind is the roll cage on Keyguy’s cart. With this roll cage, IMOP, we should have a competition style seat with a good 4 or 5 point harness. Why have roll cages to protect the occupants if they are flying around the inside of the cage? Padding on the roll cage in the head area should be considered. And yes, depending on the circumstances, a helmet is advisable.

The reason for this rant is I rolled Bristol this past weekend. I was running about 30 mph on grass and started a power slide onto a gravel road. This was at night and I didn’t see the ruts to the outside of the gravel road. As the cart was sliding left forward, the left front tire caught the rut, causing the cart to roll. The shorty windshield did prevent the cart for doing a complete roll over, but –Psycho and the occupant on the rear were thrown from the cart. I had my left foot riding on the running board and it slipped off with the full weight of the cart landing on my left ankle area.

This event…not an accident…has caused me some serious thought about where we are going with our “golf carts”. We all like to get out, have fun and show off, many times this is done a the risk of a serious or fatal injury. It didn’t take but a fraction of a second to roll my cart. Thank the Good Lord –Psycho and the other occupant are ok. It is going to take some time for my ankle to heal, but with every painful step I take…I now realize what could have happened…

PLEASE BE SAFE MY FRIENDS AND THINK AHEAD…
 

Keyguy

Overworked, underpaid :o) R.I.P.
Dang Cerberus,
Glad to hear all are OK and hope your ankle heals quickly! :eek:
I agree 100% and although not perfect, I feel considerably safer with the "cage" and front brakes.
But they didn't help a bit when it came to the "dumb jump"!
wink.gif

As Clint Eastwood said:
"A man has to know his limitations"....... :cool:

Jimmy B.

edit:
GO TO THE DOCTOR CERB!!!!!!!!!!!! :wallbash:
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Cerberus,
Sorry to hear about the wreck. I'm glad no one was seriously injured...

Nate and I were just talking last week about the roll cages and 4-5 point harnesses and seats. With the speeds some of the carts are going now it's definitely something that should be seriously considered when building a cart. A real cage, seats and belts all go together and can cause more injury if used unless they are all used... If you're going to be strapped to the cart make sure you have the right setup or it could get ugly.
 

cerberus

New Member
HRC, Keyguy, I appreciate the kind words and thanks for the call today also Jimmy B. I made a stupid decision, many as a matter of fact. My main hope for telling this is that folks will take notice and realize what can happen in just a matter of seconds. What started out as a fun ride, goofing around, turned into somebody getting hurt. I am lucky nothing worse happened and hope folks will listen.


PLEASE BE SAFE MY FRIENDS AND THINK AHEAD…

 

Keyguy

Overworked, underpaid :o) R.I.P.
Cerb,
There is a very appropriate old saying that will always apply:
"Better SAFE than sorry"
Hope you and Psycho heal up quickly, I know how annoying nagging pain can be. ;)

Jimmy B.
 

cerberus

New Member
...over one week later...the swelling hasn't all gone down yet...between you...
...and -Psycho...I guess I'll be making a trip...
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Ouch, that doesn't sound good. Hopefully nothing is broken. It sounds like it might be time to go have it looked at. :unsure:
 

wheelchairman

ProHauler!
sad story cerb glad your OK and I hope now you will be invesdting in a true cage

This is what I HATE about the buggiesunlimited forum. Most people on there don't truly think that bad rolls can occur. Keyguys wife got hurt pretty bad at last yrs bonanza and I have personally had a close call. Fastjimm off buggiesunlimited rolled his cart backward at Coal creek Offroad park and it nearly killed him. All he had was a single bar like what Spriddle has on the ezgo and wass has on his new cart.

Not to name names here but even walkntalls cage would be very minimal with his v twin.



The cages you buy are all built out of light tubing to cut cost and look the exact same as 90% of the cart cages out there. Find your local jeep club and have them build you a cage. There is guaranteed to be at least 1 fab shop a member of each club and just have them do you a custom cage. Thats what I did :cool:
 

Fairlane

New Member
Sorry to hear about your mishap. You are soooooo correct. It just takes a second for things to go wrong. Personally I don't do any night riding except for around the hood. I have been looking at 4 pt harnesses and will be installing them. It really has nothing to do with speed or power. Last year on a camping trip 2 ten yr old boys rolled one coming into camp. It was lifted with EZGO stuff and they turned a little too fast and over it went. Tossed them both out but far enough that the buggie didn't land on them. I do a lot of trail riding and rock crawling on some pretty hairy stuff and after reading this I will be taking it easy till I get them installed. Heal up quick and be careful till you get everything you need on that cart. God bless

Glen
 

Thumper

New Member
cerberus, our prayers and thoughts are with you. And I am taking all of the recommendations that have been posted to heart. Hope it turns out to be something minor.
 

cerberus

New Member
I finally went to the specialist that has been taking care of my worn out knees (all those years climbing poles). He x-rayed my ankle and there isn’t anything broken. I still have a slight sprain though. What concerned him is the swelling and the lacerations still haven’t healed. Diagnosis is poor blood circulation and I am now off to my family physician to see what he can do. All this comes with a bad case of gout in my left wrist and right elbow. If you have never had gout, let me say I hope you never have to experience that pain.

Geese, I’m falling apart, but on a good note I have lost 25 lbs!

I am glad yall are learning from my stupitidy.

Wheelchairman has the right idea
 
Top