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Cobb Island wants low-speed option
Group seeking law allowing auto alternatives
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo
Chris Hocker, left, Jim Haynes and Linda Riggs idle in their respective low-speed vehicles. The three Cobb Island residents are advocates for using the "golf carts on steroids" to get around without having to use regular cars and gasoline.
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Residents of Cobb Island aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but they are hoping to get a break on using a more small-town friendly version of the automobile.
A group of residents is getting the word out to encourage residents to consider purchasing low-speed vehicles to get around the small community, and restarting an effort to get golf carts permitted on public roads.
"It makes so much sense on this island, in this specific community," said Linda Riggs, a Cobb Island resident and proud owner of a golf cart.
Bolstered by a petition written by Jim Haynes and his wife that was signed last year by more than 400 residents, Riggs and several other organizers are hoping to bring this form of transportation to the tiny island in southern Charles County.
According to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration's Web site, a low-speed vehicle is an electric-powered vehicle with four wheels that can travel faster than 20 miles per hour but no more than 25 mph.
Under those restrictions, a low-speed vehicle cannot be used on public roads with a speed limit that is more than 30 mph.
The MVA insists each vehicle must be titled, registered and insured; outfitted with head-, tail- and brakelights; reflectors, mirrors, a parking brake, windshield and seat belts. The vehicle can only be operated by a licensed driver.
Riggs said the roads on the island have 25-mph speed limits, and residents can also take their low-speed vehicles across the bridge but only as far as the two waterfront seafood restaurants.
These unconventional autos might be the perfect fit for Cobb Island's roads, but it's the wallets of elderly residents that are going to be out of shape.
"They're expensive," Riggs said. "A lot of residents here are seniors who are on fixed incomes, so they typically can't use them."
Thanks to this year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a tax credit worth between $2,500 and $7,500 is being offered by the federal government to new low-speed vehicle owners, but that still leaves several thousands of dollars for the owner to cover.
Depending on the make, model and modifications, a low-speed vehicle can cost an owner up to $10,000, said Don Thayer, a Cobb Islander and retired attorney who is working on a change in legislation to permit golf carts in the island community.
Golf carts, however, are not nearly as expensive as low-speed vehicles, nor are they as new an invention Thayer said, which is why many Island residents have chosen to purchase one over the years for tooling around the neighborhood.
Ten years ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a final rule on all types of low-speed vehicles. It categorized conventional golf carts into three groups: fleet, personal and speed-modified carts; the size, speed and extras increase respectively.
Without a speed modification, golf carts normally cannot go faster than 19 miles per hour and are relegated to private property or communities given special exceptions to use the carts as transportation.
Though hesitant to point fingers at specific individuals, the golf cart advocates say trouble started a little over a year ago, when some residents began complaining about the safety issues of golf carts being driven on the island.
Commissioner Samuel N. Graves Jr. (D) said some residents raised concerns during a citizens association meeting he attended, and he learned the laws on alternative transportation had not always been strictly enforced.
Graves said police must enforce the law. "These laws are in place to protect the safety of citizens."
Graves said he began looking into legislation based on the wishes of the Hayneses' petition, but found that state law only allowed permits for electric-powered slow vehicles that followed environmental laws.
Many golf carts on the island were gasoline powered and required no emissions checks, so Graves found himself at a legal roadblock.
But neither the commissioner nor Cobb Island residents have let the lack of legislation stop their progress.
Thayer said his proposal for golf carts is in the hands of county attorneys, and includes a special section for elderly residents to operate a cart with alternative permission to a driver's license.
Graves said he is pursuing the option of having golf carts considered an equivalent of motorized wheelchairs, which are allowed on roads as a legitimate form of transportation for handicapped individuals.
"The ultimate goal is to give residents the mobility they want and safety [they need]," Graves said.
