Anyone familiar with getting a golf cart street legal?

Dsking85

Dsking85

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I have a club car that I’ve done various upgrades on. It can do about 30mph and I have all of the necessary upgrades to make it street legal (lights, signals, belts, horn, etc.)

Wondering if anyone is familiar with the exact process I need to go through with the DMV to get it registered and tagged. I’ve got varying answers from dealers and people who work in the golf cart industry. For some reason the golf cart industry tends to have a bunch of A-holes in it.

Thanks in advance!
 
I’m going to lose some serious street cred here, but I’ve lived in two golf course communities where people kept their golf carts at home, and in the city limits. And don’t judge me, my wife liked the houses, so what was I to say?

Anyway, my neighbors drive wherever they want within the neighborhoods, including 12 year olds driving them. I’ve never seen a tag. I can’t imagine taking one safely out on an actual road beyond the neighborhood if it will only do 30mph. I’d be less worried about the cops and more worried about being run over.

I kept other gas powered conveyances in my garage to offset the yuppie karma.

851848D3-5E02-43DE-8975-54D54E880D4E_1_201_a.jpeg
 
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fieldgrade said:
I’m going to lose some serious street cred here, but I’ve lived in two golf course communities where people kept their golf carts at home, and in the city limits. And don’t judge me, my wife liked the houses, so what was I to say?

Anyway, my neighbors drive wherever they want within the neighborhoods, including 12 year olds driving them. I’ve never seen a tag. I can’t imagine taking one safely out on an actual road beyond the neighborhood if it will only do 30mph. I’d be less worried about the cops and more worried about being run over.
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30mph is actually pretty fast for a cart. It only needs to go 20 to legally be on the road and many that are tagged won’t even do that. I can drive in my neighborhood without getting hassled but our neighborhood pool is off a main road where we will be so need to get tagged. Less interested in the safety of it because I’m really not worried about that. More about the process of getting it titled and a VIN.
 
Dsking85 said:
30mph is actually pretty fast for a cart. It only needs to go 20 to legally be on the road and many that are tagged won’t even do that. I can drive in my neighborhood without getting hassled but our neighborhood pool is off a main road where we will be so need to get tagged. Less interested in the safety of it because I’m really not worried about that. More about the process of getting it titled and a VIN.
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We have land in Rolesville where you are. But we’re more worried about tractors.
 
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Most places I’ve seen carts with tags have been small towns. Benson NC comes to mind.

Never seen one tagged for “state roads”. The new side by side legislation may give you an idea but they have height/width/length requirements to be tagged.
 
hp468 said:
Most places I’ve seen carts with tags have been small towns. Benson NC comes to mind.

Never seen one tagged for “state roads”. The new side by side legislation may give you an idea but they have height/width/length requirements to be tagged.
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Yea I’m in Rolesville where everything is 35mph or under. You can’t take them on any roads with a limit higher than that. I could get anywhere in town on it.
 
Dsking85 said:
Yea I’m in Rolesville where everything is 35mph or under. You can’t take them on any roads with a limit higher than that. I could get anywhere in town on it.
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I’d contact the mayor or a member of town council to see if they could point you in the right direction.
 
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phideux said:
Keep the damn golf carts on the golf course and off the streets. They suck, they do not belong on the road. I have been to 3 accidents involving them damn things, dead people at all of them, including an 8yo girl.
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Yessir I agree, keep ‘em off the streets! In our town you must be 16 with a DL but everyday I see kids under 12 driving them around. They don’t adhere to traffic laws and several times I’ve nearly hit one that ran a stop sign. Then there is that one asswipe that has a louder sound system than the one in my house. He drives by playing “modern pop country”. Ugh!!
 
biganimal said:
Yessir I agree, keep ‘em off the streets! In our town you must be 16 with a DL but everyday I see kids under 12 driving them around. They don’t adhere to traffic laws and several times I’ve nearly hit one that ran a stop sign. Then there is that one asswipe that has a louder sound system than the one in my house. He drives by playing “modern pop country”. Ugh!!
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Yep, because they are misused by some people they should be banned and nobody should be allowed to have them. Flawless logic. Let’s apply that to everything right?
 
HMP said:
May I suggest a car?


But, seriously - why do you want to?
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Not that I like to explain to people reasoning for doing legal things but here it goes.

1) my neighborhood pool is down a main road and I technically need the golf cart to be street legal to take it there. It’s much more convenient to go to pool with a golf cart over a car.
2) every road in my town is 35mph. I have completely redone my golf cart and it has the speed to keep up with traffic.
3) they are building a large restaurant and shopping area down the street from me and I’d like to take the golf cart.
4) we go to the OBX frequently and to avoid getting it permitted for every town we go to if it’s street legal I can ride it in any of them.
5) save gas
6) it’s just fun to ride around
 
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Dsking85 said:
Yep, because they are misused by some people they should be banned and nobody should be allowed to have them. Flawless logic. Let’s apply that to everything right?
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No, because underpowered motor vehicles that cannot do the speed limit and have zero safety features do not belong on the roads.
 
Is it the same process as a SxS? My brother-in-law recently did his turbo RZR.
I'd flag someone down that you see cruising around and ask who did their work.

CHRIS
 
My pet PEAVE, golf carts ARE NOT PEDESTRIANS STOP STOPING FOR GOLF CARTS CROSSING THE ROADS!!!!!!!!!!!!

we have a four lane 35mph main road in Tega Cay, one lane stops because they have no flippin clue and a golf cart crosses on the pedestrian cross walk and the other lane slams on their brakes just in time. Someone is going to die because people are ignorant and want to be nice in traffic. the root of pedestrian is ped, Latin for foot, feet or walk not four tires and a battery.
 
Dsking85 said:
Yep, because they are misused by some people they should be banned and nobody should be allowed to have them. Flawless logic. Let’s apply that to everything right?
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These vehicles were not designed to be used on anything other than cart paths such as are on golf courses. Most don’t have seat belts, turn indicators, or adequate headlights & tail lights.
As far as them being misused by “some people” take a drive thru The Villages in central Florida or any campground in Myrtle Beach, then come back and tell me how the majority of owners/drivers are safe and/or legal.
My logic is ; make em road worthy with the required safety equipment registration & insurance and make sure operators are trained and licensed like any car operator. Now THATS flawless logic!
 
biganimal said:
My logic is ; make em road worthy with the required safety equipment registration & insurance and make sure operators are trained and licensed like any car operator. Now THATS flawless logic!
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that’s what this whole thread is about. I have all of that stuff.
 
I'm just here to drink beer and drive the golf cart........and watch this thread crash. Carts are fun, legal in SC to drive on the road (with cart permit) within 5 miles of your house.

Cart pic thread???
 
Out here, if your cart can make into town, you can park it in front of the courthouse on the square, just try not to startle the horse if you park next to a buggy.

The waiters at the Mexican restaurant ride their department store mini bikes down the sidewalk in front of the Sheriff’s Department on their way to work & the 2 deputies catching a smoke in the parking lot don’t even glance at ‘em.

As long as you’re not being stupid, the cops out here have better things to do.
 
Crazy Carl said:
Out here, if your cart can make into town, you can park it in front of the courthouse on the square, just try not to startle the horse if you park next to a buggy.

The waiters at the Mexican restaurant ride their department store mini bikes down the sidewalk in front of the Sheriff’s Department on their way to work & the 2 deputies catching a smoke in the parking lot don’t even glance at ‘em.

As long as you’re not being stupid, the cops out here have better things to do.
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Not the Rolesville cops. They don’t let you do it.
 
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Dsking85 said:
Not the Rolesville cops. They don’t let you do it.
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Just messing with ya- I’m way TF out in the boonies of west central MO, so whole different ballgame. This place is the wild west compared to the Carolinas. Not hating, I loved the 26 years I lived in NC & never thought I’d leave. Family dynamics changed & we moved back to within a couple hours of home. It is mind blowing to live in a free state.
 
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Golf carts are prohibited from being registered and plated for street use, though they can be operated un-plated if the town or county has an ordinance allowing it. If you want to get a golf cart tagged, it has to first be up-fitted by a licensed manufacturer to comply with all of the NHTSA safety standards for Low Speed Vehicles (i.e. it has to be converted from a golf cart into to another type of vehicle that is allowed to be registered). There is a big golf cart dealer and low speed vehicle manufacturer in Fuquay (or was a couple of years ago) that will up-fit the cart to the proper safety standards - or "certify" that it now meets the LSV safety standards if your upgrades meet NHTSA standards for the upgraded parts and systems. The manufacturer will then assign the cart a proper VIN number and VIN plate to the vehicle and issue an MCO (manufacturer's certificate of origin) for the vehicle. You can then take the MCO to any license plate agency and register it as a low-speed vehicle. It can then be used on certain roads and under the conditions and limitations set out in N.C.G.S. §20-121.1. Most any large golf cart dealership will have a manufacturer that will convert them to LSVs for customers that want to register them. Call your local dealer and ask. If you ever wondered how some of those "trolley pubs" or "pedal pubs" you see in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, etc. have tags on them, they usually have an electric motor (folks don't generally pedal long) and they have been up-fitted by an LSV manufacturer to meet the standards.
 
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