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Golf Course Fatality

So terrible. Sounds like GPS governed carts are required.
 
Canadan said:
By providing alcohol, I'd argue they were doing quite the opposite.
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Blatantly setting their patrons up for failure. All for the almighty dollar.

That being said, idiots will do what idiots will do. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Insert other brutally honest saying lacking empathy here.

I feel sorry for the family, but the driver knew what he was getting into when he consumed alcohol and drove.
 
Likely avoidable but incredibly tragic nonetheless. Prayers for friends and family and, speaking from experience, all associated with, or the regulars at, that golf course. I was on the course a couple years when a man died in a tragic crash. It was a few holes ahead, everything stopped obviously and It was surreal. Two years later it still lingers. Even though he wasn't someone I knew I can't help but think of him whenever I play the hole he tragically died on.
 
Somewhere along the way, we must take responsibility for our own actions. We, as a country, can try to legislate common sense, but in the end, individual responsibility is up to each one of us. After reading the above posts, it seems to me that the course is doing all it can do to help a reasonable, sane, mature person be aware of the dangers of this particular cart path. The driver should have heeded the warnings and been responsible.
My prayers go out to all involved.
 
teamplayer said:
Somewhere along the way, we must take responsibility for our own actions. We, as a country, can try to legislate common sense, but in the end, individual responsibility is up to each one of us. After reading the above posts, it seems to me that the course is doing all it can do to help a reasonable, sane, mature person be aware of the dangers of this particular cart path. The driver should have heeded the warnings and been responsible.
My prayers go out to all involved.
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Well said.

Why is it anything someone does something stupid everyone rushes to...
1. Sue somebody.
2. Force the business to put limits on everyone else to protect the stupid.
3. Ban something (alcohol), in this case.

People should be responsible for their own actions. There was no negligence on the course's part (from the info we were given). The guy was speeding (NOT the course's fault) and he was drinking (NOT the course's fault).
 
Sad story.
 
McLovin said:
exactly my thought. i'm not one to automatically lawyer up, but in this situation it sounds like the course should have anticipated the hill would be dangerous and provide carts with better safety measures.
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Canadan said:
By providing alcohol, I'd argue they were doing quite the opposite.
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I'll disagree that the course is in some way responsible.
To me this is just a tragedy that doesn't need anyone to be blamed. Personal responsibility when getting into the drivers seat of a golf cart takes precedence IMO.

That said, I've often wondered when alcohol sales won't be permitted to the driver of the golf cart. Just seems like the next step based on how the world operates.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I'll disagree that the course is in some way responsible.
To me this is just a tragedy that doesn't need anyone to be blamed. Personal responsibility when getting into the drivers seat of a golf cart takes precedence IMO.

That said, I've often wondered when alcohol sales won't be permitted to the driver of the golf cart. Just seems like the next step based on how the world operates.
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i’ve never played a course with a steep grade that DIDN’T have a governor on the cart
 
Man, never mess around with someone in your cart. Bad news.
 
Over the past few decades we seem to average between 1-2 golf-related deaths per year. More often than not it is getting struck by a golf ball, but golf cart accidents happen too.

I've often said, "#1 rule in golf: Everyone gets to go home in one piece."
 
McLovin said:
i’ve never played a course with a steep grade that DIDN’T have a governor on the cart
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I’ve played a few that even with the governor, wet conditions were very scary
 
McLovin said:
i’ve never played a course with a steep grade that DIDN’T have a governor on the cart
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My former BOSS of all people. We were on a course that was an old ski resort. He flips the cart into neutral and we're going downhill about 40 MPH suddenly and the cart starts to shimmy something fierce like its gonna flip. I screamed "STOP!!!" He finally does and starts laughing maniacally.
I NEVER golfed with him again. Eff'd up. (n)
 
Nothing good will come from this...
 
Signed a waiver before getting a cart at wolf creek the other week and kinda laughed it off until you got to the course. You could be standing on the brake down some of those hills and still be skidding sideways a bit while turning and hitting speed bumps. Sometimes a limiter kicked in down hill, sometimes not. You really had to pay attention.
 
That sucks. Our local “mountain course”, I’ve had a number of close calls throughout the years. Usually trying to inch down wet and leave covered cart paths going down a cliff.

One in particular was really hairy. We did 3 360’s and finally gently kissed the back bumper on a tree that stopped us from going over the edge. You couldn’t have taken it any easier down that path then I was going, having already slipped a couple times.
 
Wow, didn't expect to see this thread pop up again. This accident happened just over a year ago, and although they've never talked specifics on how this ended up legally, I am happy to report that there haven't been any indications that the course was held liable, seems like business has proceeded without any obvious changes. As a reminder on this accident, it didn't happen on one of the very steep cart paths (steep paths have curbs, speed bumps, and signs, carts are governed, and well maintained), rather just after a steep downhill, and a relatively flat straight section, there is a 90* left turn onto a short bridge, and the cart driver took that left turn at high speed, lost control, and went off the bridge.
 
Terrible accident, sorry to hear about that. Even more tragic that it was so preventable.

[Edit:] My bad, didn't notice this thread was resurrected from over a year ago.
 
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Steep hills and a wet cart path can be a bad combination. A couple years ago in our club championship one of my playing partners was going down a steep hill. He had just had his cart serviced and the breaks were tight. He barely tapped them and the locked up causing the back tires to slip on the wet, slightly mossy cart part and it just turned sideways on him (drivers side going down hill). Once the tires caught traction it flipped sideway. I was on top of the hill and didn't see it but it sounded like a bunch of rocks dumped onto a metal trailer. I actually thought that's what it was from the nearby house until I started cresting the hill. Luckily he was just banged up but not seriously injured. They re-did the cart path last year when they had to take part of the bottom out for a big sewer line the city was building and lowered the grade of decent. He was not the first.

Another story I recall from my home town of Abilene several years ago was a couple of girls out late one evening searching for a phone after playing. The driver took a turn to fast and the girl fell out and onto her beer bottle. It impaled her and she later passes away in the hospital.
 
My condolences to the man's family and friends :(

I can see how it could happen, ever w/o alcohol or other recreational drugs as a contributing factor. I was driving off the fairway to bring the cart around to the green while my playing partner hit, misjudged my speed and the God-awful turn-the-wheel-a-million-times steering in the cart, and damn near made a U-turn back into the fence I'd just cleared :oops:

Then again: That was only about the 5th or 6th time I'd driven a cart, so I plead inexperience.
 
McLovin said:
i’ve never played a course with a steep grade that DIDN’T have a governor on the cart
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I have! A few years ago we went out to play the new "upscale daily fee" course in our area. Our first time seeing the place, dry day, no alcohol, and some really steep grades. I think they got the carts from NASCAR, fastest carts I'd ever driven, and the brakes were not up to snuff! We head down this grade and I can see a bridge over a ravine at the bottom which required a small right bend to negotiate. I take my foot off the gas and apply the brake. We did NOT slow down! By the time we reached the bridge I was standing on that brake with both feet. Barely negotiated the bridge, and it felt like I had stood the cart on two wheels! I slowed down a lot after that! Also, at the end of the round I told the manager they needed to do something about those carts before somebody got hurt!
 
OldeDude said:
Bad news at my local course yesterday afternoon, a fatal golf cart accident. This is a mountain course, with some pretty steep windy cart paths, and they have had accidents in the past, but really do all they can to try to prevent this kind of thing from happening (signs, curbs, etc). Here is the story from a local media source:

CAMINO — A man from Texas crashed a speeding golf cart at a Camino golf course Monday and died.​
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The California Highway Patrol says just before 4:30 p.m., the 44-year-old man was driving along the 10th fairway of the Apple Mountain Golf Resort. A 31-year-old Sacramento man was riding with him.​
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At one point, the man began speeding down a hill on the cart path, according to the CHP. The golf cart lost control as it went over a bridge and broke through a railing before landing in a creek.​
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When the cart crashed, the CHP says the driver was ejected from his seat. He died from his injuries.​
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The Sacramento man who was with him sustained minor injuries and was taken to nearby Marshall Hospital.​
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CHP investigators believe the man may have been drinking alcohol prior to the deadly crash.​
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Of course my thoughts and prayers go out to this man's family and friends.

Hopefully this will be proven to have been just a devastating accident, and not end up in the kind of litigation that is so common these days, that must find fault and blame where there should be none.
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Sad to hear no doubt. Do we know it was nothing more that a freak accident? Are the carts allowed to go full speed down the grade? RIP young man.
 
Blade Man said:
Sad to hear no doubt. Do we know it was nothing more that a freak accident? Are the carts allowed to go full speed down the grade? RIP young man.
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See my earlier post below.
OldeDude said:
Wow, didn't expect to see this thread pop up again. This accident happened just over a year ago, and although they've never talked specifics on how this ended up legally, I am happy to report that there haven't been any indications that the course was held liable, seems like business has proceeded without any obvious changes. As a reminder on this accident, it didn't happen on one of the very steep cart paths (steep paths have curbs, speed bumps, and signs, carts are governed, and well maintained), rather just after a steep downhill, and a relatively flat straight section, there is a 90* left turn onto a short bridge, and the cart driver took that left turn at high speed, lost control, and went off the bridge.
Click to expand...
 
baylrballa said:
Signed a waiver before getting a cart at wolf creek the other week and kinda laughed it off until you got to the course. You could be standing on the brake down some of those hills and still be skidding sideways a bit while turning and hitting speed bumps. Sometimes a limiter kicked in down hill, sometimes not. You really had to pay attention.
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Yeah, that was interesting everytime hitting a speedbump and losing traction. Glad you were the one driving, we may not have made it out alive if I were.
 
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