4-WAY STOP PLACED IN THE VILLAGES TO STOP GOLF CART AND AUTOMOBILE CRASHES

The Villages News announced that the Sumter County Commissioners have agreed to place a 4-way stop sign at the intersections of Woodridge Drive. This is to go into effect on March 18, 2024, a Monday. That change was as a result of a study done by the Sumter County Publics Works Department which found a total of 16 “correctable” crashes occurred at this intersection over the past 3 years. That press release by Sumter County is here: Sumter County-new four-way stop PR.pdf (districtgov.org).

This is going to be a major change to that intersection where traffic on County Road 101 had no stop signs, roundabouts, or traffic lights to those through lanes of travel. This highly travelled intersection is located just down from New Covenant United Methodist Church, and close to the Publix Supermarket at Southern Trace Plaza. It is also in close proximity to several business that are close to the major access of C.R. 466.

It will be interesting to see how the mix of golf carts and cars do with a 4-way stop. Florida Statute 316.123 says that the first vehicle to the 4-way stop should have the right of way. “Should” have the right of way is the key word there. If a vehicle and golf cart arrive at the 4-way stop close in time you are basing the outcome on the operators of those two vehicles. F.S. 316.123 says that if the vehicles arrive at the 4-way stop at the same time then the vehicle on the Left should wait for the vehicle on the Right to complete their action. Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine (state.fl.us).

(b) At a four-way stop intersection, the driver of the first vehicle to stop at the intersection shall be the first to proceed. If two or more vehicles reach the four-way stop intersection at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.

The question is whether vehicles will wait for golf carts and other vehicles at this intersection or will crashes continue to occur with impatient drivers. Last year we the attorneys at www.GolfCartAttorneys.com successfully handled a severe golfcart-v.-vehicle crash with injuries close to this same area just off S.R. 466. The vehicle was impatient and struck the golfcart. In The Villages this is an all-too-often occurrence where a motor vehicle crashes into a golfcart and causes serious injuries.

Don’t trust your case to a law firm that never, or almost never, handles golf cart injury cases. We are conveniently located at the corner of The Villages at U.S. Hwy 441, right next to the Lady Lake Police Department, 1block from Miller’s Alehouse on the corner, and right across the street from Total Wines. If you have been injured on a golfcart, or because of a golfcart, trust your golfcart injury case to local attorneys who know the specific laws that apply to golfcarts cases. Trust our 25 years of successfully representing golfcart accident victims.