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…
...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…