Frequently Asked Questions

Yes , if allowed by city ordinance and in other, very limited circumstances. Three sections of two Texas Transportation Code provisions govern whether a golf cart may be driven on a city street: 1) a golf cart may be driven on a street if the street is: (1) in a master planned community that meets certain conditions; (2) on a golf course; or (3) on a public or private beach. TEX TRANSP. CODE 551.403 (a). (Because state law provides no definition of "master planned community," and the attorney general declined to define the term in Texas Attorney General Opinion GA-0966, each city will likely have to look at its own definition of master planned community within its subdivision and zoning regulations.); NOT APPLICABLE FOR CLEAR LAKE SHORES 2) a golf cart may also be driven on a city street that has a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less, if the golf cart is operated to and from a golf course during the day time and no more than two miles from the place where the golf cart is usually parked. Id.; the Attorney General also added that the purpose of driving the golf cart on public streets under this subsection must be to transport a person to and from the golf course under GA-0966; and/or NO APPLICABLE FOR CLEAR LAKE SHORES 3). a city council may, by ordinance, authorize a golf cart to be operated on any street in the city that has a posted speed limit of not more than 35 miles per hour, so long as the golf cart has special safety equipment, including headlamps, tail lamps, reflectors, parking brakes, and mirrors. Id. § 551.404. In addition, a golf cart may be driven across an intersection of any street if the cart is being lawfully operated under one of the provisions above. Id. § 551.405. Under a provision adopted in 2013, the Texas Department of Transportation can now offer license plates to golf carts that are driven on public streets as described above. Id. § 551.402.