It Happens All The Time
Have you ever had a resident's child hop on the community golf cart and take off? It happens all the time.
Many multifamily communities have one or more golf carts that are used by maintenance for getting around and also by leasing for property tours. Every month our office deals with multiple situations where a child and sometimes even a drunk adult decides to take a joyride on the golf cart through your community and sometimes do a little off-roading. Off-roading right into the lake.
You have seen the results. The truth is that often these joyrides do not end well. Crashes into vehicles, trees, buildings, light poles, and lakes cause significant damage and also potentially personal injury.
The Security Problem
Most maintenance techs and employees of multifamily communities will readily tell you that many golf carts do not even have keys or they can be turned on with a screwdriver, knife, or even the community mailbox keys because the key was lost at one point and well, the switch does not work as it did when new.
Often keys are lost and the switch is replaced with a toggle switch so there is absolutely no safety or security features at all. Can you trust that golf cart to be left unattended?
Often, the leasing agent, property manager or maintenance tech will forget and simply leave the keys in the golf cart unattended for anyone to hop in and take off. There is no excuse for that one.
The Real Consequences
Will a golf cart joyride or crash make the news? Of course not but crashes happen on a regular basis. My clients have dealt with thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles belonging to residents and guests due to children going for that joyride. Not to mention the damage to the golf carts themselves, which are sometimes totaled. Some damage is intentional, most accidental.
Recently we had a group of children sideswipe 5 vehicles in the parking area and a lot of residents were very angry. The property has insurance but there is quite a deductible in place, and we are waiting to see if the insurance company may deny the claim because, in this case, the keys were left in the golf cart by the maintenance tech.
We have seen golf carts vandalized, totaled by joyriders and in some cases, these golf carts were stolen from the properties never to be returned.
Golf Cart Injury Statistics
It's estimated that there are around 15,000 injuries each year due to golf cart use. 10% of accidents result in rollovers and one-third of all injuries are to children. Many golf carts are easily modified to increase the speed.
Evaluate Your Current Situation
While this topic seems to be almost a bit silly, take the time and evaluate the current situation at your property. Sit down with the maintenance tech and ask him or her what the current situation is with the golf cart.
Can it be turned on with that knife, screwdriver or just about any key? Have the keys been lost and the switch was bypassed with a simple toggle switch? Golf carts were not designed like cars where security from theft is a priority; in fact, some common brands of golf carts all share the exact same key.
Solutions to Secure Your Golf Carts
Joyriding and expensive damage due to golf carts can be prevented but first you need to recognize the problem and not accept it as being a risk you should be taking. There are ways to make your golf carts more secure:
Security Options for Golf Carts
- Ignition switches with unique keys (can be replaced for a very low cost)
- Hidden extra manual disconnect switch (two-step process to start)
- Extra toggle switch hidden below the seat
- Battery switches
- Key pad locks
- Key fob locks
- Pedal locks
- Steering wheel locks (The Club makes a product for golf carts!)
- Wheel lock boot
- Steering wheel removal system
Establish Rules and Consequences
Rules need to be in place where if an employee leaves a key in the golf cart unattended, there will be consequences so once your staff knows these consequences, they may take this issue more seriously.
Bring this all to the attention of your maintenance tech and see if he or she has any solutions. Your maintenance techs are pretty darn smart and could come up with some interesting fail-safe ways to secure your golf cart from unauthorized use for a small amount of money. Money well spent.
While most of the time, the unauthorized use of the golf cart may only result in property damage, the time may come where a child or another resident is injured or even killed by a golf cart accident. It happens. The chance that a joyrider will put on a seatbelt if one even exists (and it's not required by law) is slim to none.
Your Action Items
Evaluate the current situation and fix it. Not next week, not next month, NOW. Stress to all the staff that if a golf cart gets taken, there will be consequences. You wouldn't leave your keys in the ignition of your car, would you?
Will the resident pay for the damage to or by a golf cart? Doubtful. Will you know what resident's child took the golf cart? Maybe not. With potentially thousands of dollars owed, your chances of collecting are about as slim as collecting $5000 from the resident for a kitchen fire. Take action now.
