The Golf Cart On The Street
Veh. Code 21115 — a highway near a golf course, designated by the local authority
Only where it is designated. A local authority may, by resolution or ordinance, designate a highway next to or giving access to a golf course, or within a development with golf facilities, for combined use by regular traffic and golf carts, and set rules with the force of law. Once the designation takes effect and the signs are up, golf carts may be driven on it under those rules.
How far. Outside a development, no highway is designated for a distance of more than one mile from the golf course. The local rules may set crossing zones and speed limits, but not require registration, licensing or equipment, apart from lighting after dark.
Crossing zones. A local authority may also set golf cart crossing zones, outside darkness, on a street other than a state highway with a posted limit of 45 miles per hour or less next to a golf course, once law enforcement approves the location. That is not precedent for driving golf carts anywhere else.
Low-speed vehicles registered as motor vehicles, all-terrain and utility vehicles, private roads, and the local ordinance itself are outside this page. Whether a particular street is designated, and what the local rules require, are questions for the local government or a licensed California attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- Veh. Code 21115 — Golf carts; designation of highways for combined use
- Veh. Code 21115.1 — Golf cart crossing zones
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed California attorney.