EJECTION FROM GOLF CART CAUSES DEATH IN THE VILLAGES
The Villages News reported on a Sunday morning tragedy wherein an Illinois woman died after being ejected from a golf cart where the driver swerved to avoid a parked vehicle. The report indicates that this occurred on San Marino Drive near Santa Clara Circle. The male Villager driver had been reported to be drinking before the crash and was arrested after the accident.
Unfortunately, this type of accident is very common with regard to golf carts, whether they are golf “carts” limited to 20 mph in Florida or golf “cars” (also known as low-speed vehicles or “LSVs” in Florida) which are limited to a legal speed of 25 mph. Some golf carts are not equipped with seatbelts and some are equipped but not used by passengers; it is not clear in this case whether the female passenger was wearing a seatbelt which might have failed.
This type of ejection is one greatly known to affect golf carts, and typically contains the following dynamics: A driver going at speed in a golf cart, a sudden unannounced swerve to the left, a passenger without any notice to try to hold on, the passenger is ejected from the right side of the golf cart. Studies have shown that the sudden sharp motion of the golf cart to the left causes a pendulum effect which immediately causes the right-sided passenger to be hurled to the right. Another dynamic is that the usually low-profile brace on right side of the passenger acts as a fulcrum and launches the passenger upward on ejection. When these aspects are combined with the additional dynamic that many of these right-sided ejections occur over asphalt they almost always result in severe injuries or unfortunately, even death.
One other aspect which is often a factor is alcohol consumption on the part of the driver, and according to the report that appears to be the case here in The Villages golf cart accident.
Golf cart laws are different than automobile crash laws. It is always important to choose an attorney who has handled multiple golf cart injury and death cases.
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A Villager arrested after a woman’s fatal fall from his golf cart lost his wife in December.
Richard Allen Keil, 58, of the Village of Rio Ponderosa, was arrested on a charge of DUI manslaughter after the 60-year-old Norridge, Ill. woman fell from his golf cart at about 1 a.m. Sunday on San Marino Drive at the intersection of Santa Clara Circle. He had swerved to avoid hitting a parked car and the sudden jerk caused her to fall from the golf cart, according to information from the Florida Highway Patrol. She suffered serious injuries and was transported to an area hospital where she died.
An Illinois woman has died after falling from a golf cart in The Villages.
The 60-year-old Norridge, Ill. woman had been traveling as a passenger in a golf cart shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday northbound on San Marino Drive at the intersection of Santa Clara Circle in the Village of Rio Ponderosa when she fell from the golf cart, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The driver of the golf cart, 58-year-old Richard Allen Keil, who lives in the Village of Rio Ponderosa, came upon a parked vehicle and swerved to avoid hitting it. When he swerved, the woman fell out of the golf cart.
