AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 56-2-90 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGISTRATION AND OPERATION OF GOLF CARTS ALONG THE STATE'S PUBLIC HIGHWAYS, TO PROVIDE MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES MAY ADOPT ORDINANCES TO REGULATE THE OPERATION OF GOLF CARTS WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTIONS, AND TO PROVIDE CERTAIN PASSENGERS MUST WEAR SAFETY BELTS; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 56-2-105 RELATING TO THE REGISTRATION AND OPERATION OF GOLF CARTS.
H3292 revises South Carolina’s laws governing golf carts on public roads and gives local governments more flexibility to regulate where and when they may be used. The bill creates a new section of law requiring golf cart owners to obtain a DMV permit decal and registration certificate, show proof of ownership and liability insurance, and pay a $5 fee. It also requires operators to be at least 16 years old, hold a valid driver’s license, and carry the registration, insurance, and license while operating the cart on a public highway.
The bill authorizes municipalities and counties, by ordinance, to set hours, routes, and locations for golf cart use within their jurisdictions, including allowing nighttime operation in designated areas if the carts have working headlights and taillights. It also allows local governments to designate separate golf cart paths under specified safety conditions and prohibits them from requiring proof of property ownership or a long-term rental agreement as a condition for receiving a decal. In the absence of a local ordinance, golf carts remain limited to daylight use, secondary highways with speed limits of 35 mph or less, and travel within four miles of the registered address or gated-community access point. The bill also requires children under 12 riding as passengers to wear a fastened safety belt and repeals the existing Section 56-2-105.
The bill would repeal the current statutory provision on golf cart permits and replace it with a new framework in Title 56 governing registration, operator qualifications, local ordinance authority, and safety requirements. It expands local control by expressly allowing municipalities and counties to authorize nighttime golf cart operation and create dedicated golf cart paths, while preserving statewide baseline restrictions where no local ordinance exists. The measure affects golf cart owners, drivers, local governments, and the DMV, and it standardizes insurance, licensing, and permit requirements across the state.
The bill appears to have broad support and little opposition in the legislative record. It passed the House 98-1, the Senate 42-1, and the House concurrence vote 105-5, indicating strong bipartisan approval. The voting pattern suggests lawmakers generally favored the bill’s mix of local flexibility and safety regulation.
The main policy issue is how much discretion municipalities and counties should have to expand golf cart use, especially for nighttime operation and the creation of separate golf cart paths. Another point of potential concern is the removal of proof-of-property-ownership or long-term rental requirements for obtaining a decal, which may have been intended to broaden access but could raise local enforcement or eligibility concerns. The near-unanimous votes suggest these issues were not highly divisive, but they represent the bill’s most notable regulatory tradeoffs.