ANNA MARIA – Three companies that rent out golf carts within the city of Anna Maria have agreed to place decals in their carts reminding drivers and passengers of four state laws that apply when traveling on public streets.
The decals are an attempt to help alleviate growing concerns about the illegal behavior of those who use the rented golf carts to get around while vacationing in Anna Maria and elsewhere on the Island. The three participating rental companies are Beach Bums, Robinhood Rentals and Lazy Turtle Beach Rentals.
To be printed at the city’s expense and then voluntarily placed in the rented golf carts, the 3-inch by 5-inch decals will include as attention-getters the logos of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Anna Maria Code and Parking Enforcement Department.
The decals will include a header that says, “City of Anna Maria Rules of the Road.”
The decals will include the following warning: “State of Florida laws are strictly enforced.”
The decals will address four state laws that will be more stringently enforced within the city limits.
- “Only licensed drivers may operate this vehicle.”
- “All passengers must wear seat belts.”
- “Children 5 & under in a child restraint device.”
- “Do not exceed the seating capacity of this vehicle.”
The decals do not address the speed at which a golf cart should travel when operating on a public street.
Murphy first proposed the golf cart decals on Aug. 18 when providing the commission with a recap of his private meeting with the three business owners.
During the Aug. 26 meeting, Murphy said a commission vote was not required to move forward with the proposed action, but he did want the commission’s input before doing so.
“You could put more on here, but we felt we wanted to keep it simple, clean and easy to read. These are the four types of violations that seem to be the most prominent. This is not intended to be a total solution for the issue of golf carts. It’s intended to be a step to see if we can’t improve the behavior of the golf carts within our city,” Murphy told the commission.
“We will pick up the tab because it’s something we’re asking them to do,” he added. “It’s a couple hundred dollars. It’s a good investment for the city.”
Murphy said the three business owners had no objections to the proposed decal design.
“They like it. They didn’t recommend any changes at all,” he said.
He noted the decals are voluntary and are not something the city can mandate business owners to do.
Murphy said he also reviewed the decal language with Sgt. Brett Getman, who leads the Anna Maria Unit of the Sheriff’s Office.
“We felt it was important to mention the State of Florida laws,” Murphy said.
Commissioner Mark Short asked the mayor who receives the citation if one is given for a violation of one or more of the state laws referenced on the decal. Murphy said the operator of the vehicle would receive the ticket for a violation of state law. The mayor said city-issued parking tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle – which would be the rental company if the parking violation involves a rented golf cart.
Commission Chair Carol Carter suggested the decals also be placed in rented, three-wheeled scoot coupes. Murphy said that could also be accomplished. He said he also hopes to have the city’s rules of the road presented to vacation rental guests when they check into their accommodations.
“Hopefully this helps. There’s no silver bullet. There’s no one thing you can do to help with this golf cart dilemma that we’ve got,” the mayor said. “I hope this will be a start in the right direction. The next step after this is to go to the companies that are bringing carts in and get the same type of agreement. These rules apply to all three cities on the Island. Those are State of Florida laws.”
