CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A video of a parents using a golf cart for school drop-off sparked questions from Corpus Christi residents about where golf carts are actually allowed on local streets.
During back-to-school coverage, a couple was featured using their golf cart to cut across a field to get their kids to Creekside Elementary off Yorktown Boulevard. Shortly after, several viewers — including a grandmother named Tammy, who did not want to appear on camera — reached out with questions about whether that was legal.
Tammy said a police officer had previously told her she could not use her golf cart for school pickup in Flour Bluff, even though her cart had all required safety features and insurance.
"Once a police officer rolled up beside us while we were in line waiting to pick up my grandson from school, and we were told that we could not use our golf cart," Tammy said.
After seeing the video, she wanted to know why others appeared to be allowed to do what she had been told she could not.
"You know, we seen the article on there about them using their golf carts to avoid all the traffic, and you know we were like, well, how come they're allowed to take their kids to school in a golf cart, but we weren't allowed to do it?" Tammy said.
I took her questions to Corpus Christi Police Captain Timothy Frazier, who explained the rules are specific.
"In the state of Texas, anybody that lives in a planned neighborhood, basically if they have an HOA or homeowners association, you are allowed to drive your golf cart in that area. You cannot drive anything on a roadway that's faster than 35 miles an hour, and you can drive within one mile from where you park your golf cart," Frazier said.
That explains why the Southside mom could drop her kids off near Creekside Elementary — planned neighborhoods exist in that area. Residents of a planned neighborhood with an HOA can drive throughout their community, rather than being limited to one mile from their home.
Frazier said many people still do not understand the restrictions.
"They think they can just drive it anywhere and that's just not the case. They have to be within one mile of their residence," Frazier said.
The rules are different in some parts of the Coastal Bend. On Mustang Island and in Port Aransas, city ordinances allow golf carts almost everywhere. But in most of Corpus Christi, drivers are limited to within one mile of where they park their golf cart — unless they live in a planned neighborhood with an HOA.
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