High gas prices: US drivers swapping their cars for golf carts

South Carolinians are celebrating a new law coming into force, allowing them to drive fuel-efficient golf carts up to four miles from their homes.
Previously the buggies were allowed to be driven just two miles on public roads, but Governor Nikki Haley has signed the law and it will come into effect from October.
Owners of the open-sided vehicles will be let loose on the streets among cars and trucks, and the change has been welcomed by residents, eager to ditch their gas-guzzling vehicles in favour of the carts.
“The new golf cart law helps our community because it gets them around the community a little better than the old law did,” Kenny Lancaster, Director of Safety and Standards at Sun City retirement community said.
Most of the residents at Sun City own golf carts, including Mike Zipes, who told the news channel: “Four miles seems great and just perfect”.
The carts are forbidden to be driven on major roads, or at speeds in excess of 35 mph (56km/hr), but critics fear the restrictions could prove fruitless.
Around 13 000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room treatment each year across the US, many of them resulting in fatalities, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
David Zuby, Chief Research Officer of the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety told Fox: “These laws that allow them to be driven on more and more roads is a cause of concern.” — Daily Mail.