Florida Overloaded Golf Cart Accident Attorney
An overloaded golf cart is a dangerous instrumentality. Getting crushed underneath a thousand-pound vehicle that tips over on top of you can cause catastrophic injury or even end in a fatality to the accident victim. If a golf cart is overloaded, it is because somebody was negligent in piling on too many passengers or too much gear, or it might be a fault of the manufacturer or rental company. If you were hurt in a golf cart crash, rollover, tip-over, or ejection because of a negligently overloaded golf cart, you should have the ability to hold the responsible party or parties accountable to you for your injuries. GolfCartAttorney can help. Golf cart accidents are handled very differently from other vehicle accidents, and the average personal injury lawyer likely won’t be up to speed on the intricacies, complexities and nuances of a golf cart accident claim. Just as you shouldn’t go to a car accident attorney after a boat accident, if you’ve been hurt in a golf cart accident, you should seek help from a golf cart accident attorney. That’s who we are at The Law Offices of Frank D. Butler, P.A., the GolfCartAttorney. Call our experienced Florida overloaded golf cart accident attorney today.
How Overloaded Golf Cart Accidents Happen
Every vehicle has weight limits, but it’s not something you think about when you get into your personal vehicle, so you might not think about it when you load up a golf cart either. But golf carts are not cars, and they must be treated very differently, especially when it comes to loading them up. The average golf cart is designed to hold anywhere from 450 to 800 pounds, depending on the make and model. This could mean as few as just two people plus their gear before maxing out the golf cart’s capacity.
If you are renting a golf cart at a club, it might cost $50 or more just to play nine holes, and double that for a full round of golf. When a foursome wants to save money but doesn’t want to walk, they might rent only one cart instead of two and just pile on, heedless about whether the golf cart is designed to hold them all. But even just one extra person on a golf cart can be dangerous enough to cause a tip-over or rollover, especially if the driver has been drinking, is speeding, takes a turn too sharply, or drives recklessly over uneven terrain. Golf cart operators and passengers driving carts through communities like The Villages or Sun City need to be mindful of the cart’s weight limits as well.
It’s not just the amount of weight that is an issue but also how that weight is distributed on the cart. An uneven or unbalanced golf cart is more likely to tip over during a turn or on an incline, and golf carts are not equipped with much in the way of safety features if that happens. Lacking doors, airbags, and sometimes basic restraints like seat belts, golf cart passengers can easily fall off of or get ejected from an overloaded golf cart that tips over, rolls over, stalls or crashes into another cart or fixed object. Occupants are likely to experience serious injury in such an event.
Golf carts can be overloaded due to many factors, including:
- Too many passengers
- Too much stuff
- Too heavy for the cart’s design
- Unbalanced load
Golf carts might be overloaded due to the neglect of the owner, operator, or passengers, but other parties can be responsible for an overloaded golf cart accident as well. For instance, a golf cart can be considered defective if it does not contain sufficient instructions for its safe use or warnings about dangers inherent in the use of the golf cart. These defects are known in the field of product liability law as “failure to warn” or “marketing” defects. Sufficient warnings and directions should be included with golf cart documentation, printed directly on the golf cart itself where appropriate, or delivered to people who are buying, renting or otherwise using a golf cart. When an accident is caused by a failure to warn defect, the injury victims might have a claim against the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or entity that rented the cart. When renting out golf carts, businesses should ensure they are renting the right cart for the size of the group and its intended use and that renters are provided with the information they need to operate the cart safely. The failure to do so could lead to liability for the injuries caused in an overloaded golf cart accident.
Contact the GolfCartAttorney Today
GolfCartAttorney at The Law Offices of Frank D. Butler, P.A., is committed to obtaining justice and compensation for people who are injured in golf cart accidents caused by another’s needless and preventable negligence. These cases are complex and require sophisticated representation from skilled and experienced golf cart accident attorneys, which is the level of dedicated service GolfCartAttorney provides. Call our Florida overloaded golf cart accident lawyer today for a free consultation. No recovery, no fee.
