A crash last week in which a grandmother was hospitalized after letting her 9-year-old granddaughter drive a golf cart is resurrecting concerns about grandchildren and golf carts in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.

The 68-year-old grandmother, who was taken by ambulance from the scene of the rollover crash, reportedly played the “I didn’t know” card when asked why the 9-year-old was allowed to take the wheel.

Community Development District 3 Supervisor Gail Lazenby, who had a long career in public safety including several years in leadership with The Villages Public Safety Department, seized on the incident and urged grandparents to show restraint when it comes to grandchildren wanting to bend the rules when it comes to golf carts.

Any grandchild will tell you that a highlight of a visit to The Villages is traveling around in a golf cart.

A few points to remember:

• You must be at least 14 years old to drive a golf cart.

• Seatbelts are not mandatory, but many grandparents have determined that seatbelts are worth their weight in gold when they click in precious cargo such as grandchildren. In golf cart accidents, the most serious injuries, usually head trauma, occur when people are ejected from their carts.

• Law enforcement urges Villagers not to hand the golf cart key over to grandchildren, but to go with them. A grandchild might have a tough time fighting the temptation to speed. There’s also plenty of opportunity to get lost in The Villages.

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