The Fair Oaks Ranch City Council last week unanimously approved an ordinance amendment allowing the use of off-highway and utility vehicles on city streets while implementing additional safety requirements to ensure the safety of the city’s residents.
Article 12.04 of the Chapter 12 of the FOR Code of Ordinances was amended to allow the use of the UTVs, which the ordinance defines as a motor vehicle equipped with one or more seats and four or more tires which is designed for off-highway use, at least 50 inches wide and is not designed for farming or lawn care. Much like golf carts, the ordinance limits the use of the vehicles to streets with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or less.
Several unique requirements for UTVs were added to the ordinance beyond the requirements already set out for golf carts operated on city streets. The city will require UTVs to have a license plate issued by a local tax assessor-collector, who will require an inspection of the off-highway vehicle – something that is not required by state statute and is expected to help ensure a safer environment for FOR residents.
“The level of effort in this has been amazing,” Place 5 Councilmember Scott Parker said. “Thank you very much. The way that I see it is that most people that will be riding in a UTV or all-terrain vehicle, having the license plate from the appraisal office and having the UTV inspected – which is not required for these vehicles anywhere by state statute – is going to afford a much better, acceptable level of safety on our streets.”
While the amended ordinance limits UTVs, along with golf carts, to city streets with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph, operators of a recreational vehicle are allowed to cross multilane federal, county or state roadways if there is a traffic light or four-way stop sign at the intersection.
The ordinance was further amended to increase child safety in the city, adding that any child under 18 months of age may not be transported on a golf cart or UTV without a child passenger safety seat system. The ordinance defines a child passenger safety seat system as “an infant or child passenger restraint system that meets the federal standards for crash-tested restraint systems as set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
FOR Police Chief Tim Moring said child safety seats are not designed to be in golf carts or off-highway vehicles, clarifying that some modification and work on the vehicle owners will be required to determine how to properly secure it. However, he said the police department is working to put information out to residents on how to best accomplish this task, but he did say he doesn’t recommend any infants ride in golf carts or UTVs.
Moring said the ordinance previously required any child under 6 years of age be restrained by a seatbelt in a golf cart – when UTVs were not identified in the ordinance – and he said the child safety ordinance amendments were added to separate out the infant age group from the small child requirements. Moring said the need for this separation in age became apparent about two years ago when a woman put a 13-month-old child in her golf cart with a seatbelt, and the small child had a difficult time holding himself up during turns.
Place 2 Councilmember Roy Elizondo said he was glad to hear there were standards in place for child car seats in the recreational vehicles, saying child safety seats are designed for vehicles with a restraint system and anchor points that aren’t found in golf carts or UTVs. In September 2020, the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association issued a statement against the use of car seats and booster seats in golf carts.
“State, municipal and consumer efforts that encourage the use of car seats on recreational vehicles, such as golf carts and off-highway all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), directly conflict with manufacturer instructions for the safe use of these strictly regulated safety devices,” the statement from the JPMA read. “For over half a century, proper use of child restraints and belt-positioning booster seats to protect infants and young children during vehicle accidents has proven highly effective in reducing injuries and saving lives. This track record, however, has been exclusively in roadway travel environments with complementary vehicle safety features. Such performance features are required in passenger cars, SUVs and light duty trucks.
“While JPMA appreciates engagement around good intentioned ideas to protect children, child restraints and booster seats are designed and tested in accordance with federal regulations. They are neither designed nor tested for use in other environments such as off-road in golf carts or recreational vehicles.”
Elizondo speculated the state laws around recreational vehicles assumed golf carts were used for cart travel and UTVs were used for agriculture, but he felt the use and desire in FOR is different, saying recreational vehicles in the city are used for a fun, recreational way to get around such as taking kids to and from school. He said he would like to see some safety mitigation efforts in place, citing the fatalities from golf cart accidents that have already occurred in the city and suggesting adding UTVs to the ordinance may be adding extra risk on the city streets.
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