What Are Some Ways to Be Injured in a Golf Cart?

You do not have to play golf to ride in a golf cart. In retirement communities across the United States, golf carts have emerged as the primary mode of transportation. Some cities even have constructed concrete paths that are designated for golf carts. With a steady rise in the number of golf carts, the number of golf cart accidents has steadily risen as well.

According to data released by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, more than 156,040 people received emergency room care between 2007 and 2017 for serious injuries sustained from a golf cart accident. With the number of golf carts increasing for use outside of golf courses, researchers expect the next 10-year study to demonstrate an increase in the number of serious golf cart accidents.

What are the ways to get injured in a golf cart? Because of its structure, a golf cart does a poor job of protecting passengers. You do not receive protection from a sturdy side door like you do when you ride in an automobile. Most golf carts do not come equipped with standard vehicle features such as a safety restraint and collision warning system. Because of the negligence of another golf cart operator, the ways to get injured in a golf cart include whiplash, lacerations, and a concussion.

If you suffer from injuries that were caused by a golf cart accident, contact one of the personal injury attorneys at Morgan & Morgan to determine whether another party should assume the blame for causing you financial losses. Since 1988, Morgan & Morgan has helped recover more than $20 billion in monetary damages for our clients.

Schedule a free case evaluation with one of our personal injury lawyers to determine how to proceed with your golf cart accident case.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Golf Cart Accidents?

The cause of a golf cart accident often determines the type of injuries a victim sustains. With seniors and children representing nearly 60 percent of all golf cart victims, knowing the most common causes of golf cart accidents can be an effective educational tool to reduce the number of collisions.

Sharp Turn
Golf carts and motor vehicles share several common causes of accidents. As with a car, reckless driving can cause a golf cart accident. Since golf carts are especially vulnerable to tipping over on the side of hilly terrain. Making a sharp turn can lead to an accident involving one or more golf carts.

Distracted Driving
Golf carts have their own unique distractions. Although eating and driving a golf cart remains a cause of distraction, other reasons for a driver becoming distracted includes watching a golf ball in flight and writing down a score while operating a golf cart. Because golf carts possess fewer safety features than the safety features installed in motor vehicles, distracted driving can cause an accident that severely injures the driver and passenger.

Operating Under the Influence
Law enforcement takes the same dim view of a golf cart operator under the influence as it does for the driver of an automobile. Golf courses offer a variety of alcoholic beverages, which some players abuse while operating a golf cart. Once again, the lack of safety features places an operator under the influence at risk of sustaining serious injuries.

Too Much Weight
Golf carts with too much weight run the risk of tipping over on any type of terrain. Most golf carts with two seats can handle a weight of around 500 pounds, which is enough support for two riders that have a combined weight of 400 pounds. You also have to factor in the weight of golf bags and other types of golfing accessories. In addition to tipping over, an overloaded golf cart is difficult to stop, which increases the possibility of one or both riders getting thrown from an overloaded golf cart.

What Are the Ways to Get Injured in a Golf Cart?

Because of the open-air design that provides little protection against collisions, a golf cart accident can result in serious and even life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, far too many golf cart operators believe they are invincible because of the low speed traveled by most golf carts.

Whiplash
As with a motor vehicle, a golf cart accident can result in severe whiplash. A sudden, violent impact causes the head and neck to move back and forth. The violent nature of the whiplash produced by a golf cart accident is even worse when the impact is made by a motor vehicle. Whiplash can trigger several symptoms, such as dizziness, intense headaches, and chronic neck pain.
 
Spinal Cord
The spinal cord injuries caused by a golf cart accident include a slipped disc, herniated disc, and fractured vertebrae. Since neither side of a golf cart offers protection, the impact made by another golf cart or worse, a motor vehicle, might cause a spinal cord injury that leaves a victim partially paralyzed.

Brain Trauma
Whiplash caused by a golf cart accident can be violent enough to force both rides to hit their heads on an object. The result can be a concussion or a much more severe injury that knocks a victim unconscious. Symptoms of a brain injury can be as mild as a headache to as serious as frequent seizures. Many brain trauma symptoms do not develop until a few days or a couple of weeks after a golf cart accident.

Fractures
Getting thrown from a golf cart can produce a fractured bone. The instinct to break a fall can lead to a fractured wrist and/or arm. Leg fractures also are common types of fractures for golf cart riders that get tossed from their vehicles. The severity of fractures runs from relatively stable to complex in which a fracture generates an open wound.

Lacerations
With no protection from a golf cart and a lack of protective gear, many golf cart accidents cause cuts and lacerations. A severe laceration requires immediate medical care to slow the flow of blood. Golf cart accidents that happen on a concrete path sometimes produce lacerations that require emergency medical care to treat.

Regardless of the type of injury you sustained because of a golf cart accident, you should contact one of the personal injury attorneys at Morgan & Morgan to discuss your case.

How Do I Prove Negligence for a Golf Cart Accident?

The golf accident lawyer you hire from Morgan & Morgan conducts a thorough investigation to determine whether one or more acts of negligence played a role in causing the collision. Your legal counsel must demonstrate the presence of the four elements that define negligence for a personal injury case.

Duty of Care
The first element to prove is called duty of care. Your personal injury attorney must show the other party had the legal responsibility to protect you from sustaining injuries. The duty of care for a reckless golf cart operator is renting a golf cart knowing the renter has a legal obligation to operate the golf cart safely. Management of the golf course has a duty of care to prevent stationary objects from becoming hazards.

Duty of Care Violation
As the most important element to prove negligence for a personal injury case, your legal counsel has to present persuasive evidence that the other party breached the duty of care legal doctrine. A golf cart manufacturer has the duty of care to protect you against harm. Manufacturing a defective cart that causes you to harm violates the manufacturer’s duty of care.

Negligence Caused Your Injuries
Going back to the golf cart manufacturer example, if the defective golf cart caused your injuries, then you have fulfilled the legal requirement for the third element of proving negligence. Your personal injury lawyer must link the negligent act of the golf cart manufacturer to your injuries.

Financial Losses
After demonstrating the other party negligently caused your injuries because of a golf cart accident, the final element to prove involves financial losses. For you to show negligence on the part of the other party, you also have to show the negligent act that caused your injuries has cost you money. For personal injury cases, medical bills represent the most substantial type of financial loss.

What Should I Do After a Golf Cart Accident?

Getting involved in any type of vehicle collision can leave you disoriented and stressed out. However, you have to keep your emotions under control by following a few steps after a golf cart accident.

Contact Management
A call to the clubhouse should prompt course management to send a team out to handle the aftermath of a golf cart accident. If you suspect intentional negligence, you should contact the local law enforcement agency to conduct an extensive investigation. Since you might not get help from a law enforcement agency, you should take control of the next step.

Collect and Organize Evidence
One of the most important responsibilities for a law enforcement agency after a car accident is to gather evidence to use for the filing of a formal police report. If a law enforcement agency does not respond to your golf cart accident, you should take photographs of the accident scene, as well as shoot photos of your injuries. If you must seek immediate medical care, ask the healthcare provider for copies of the photographs taken of your injuries.

Talk to Witnesses
Witness accounts can support the evidence you submit when you file an insurance claim and a civil lawsuit. Ask every witness for a name and contact information, which you hand over to your personal injury lawyer. Your attorney should interview witnesses as quickly as possible after a golf course accident. Waiting too long to speak with witnesses can produce inconsistent accounts of the events leading up to and following a golf cart collision.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
To file the most convincing golf cart accident claim, you should hire a personal injury lawyer. Morgan & Morgan will assign you a personal injury attorney who has compiled an impressive record of litigating golf cart accident cases. Working with an experienced golf cart accident lawyer is important because golf cart accident cases present unique legal challenges.

When you search for the best legal counsel to represent you during a golf cart accident case, you want to work with a lawyer who responds quickly to emails, phone calls, and text messages. The highly responsive litigators at Morgan & Morgan communicate promptly to keep you informed about the progress of your case.

Schedule a free case evaluation with a personal injury lawyer from Morgan & Morgan to determine the best course of legal action.