Peachtree City Mayor Steve

Brown has a warning for teenage golf cart operators who may feel driven

to drag race on a soccer field or carve donuts in a neighbors lawn this

spring.

Do it, and that may be the

last "driving" you do for awhile.

Compelled by frustrated police

and a recreation department weary from repairing sod on rutted playing

fields, Brown issued a press release through City Hall last week urging

all cart drivers, but especially those still in high school, to use caution

and plain old good sense on the city's 80-plus miles of cart paths this

season.

"While many of our teens

are operating golf carts responsibly, some are giving the entire group

a bad name and causing complaints to be issued," Brown said. In the

past, those complaints were usually delivered straight to the offender's

parents by either the mayor himself or the police. Presumably, said Brown,

judgment and appropriate sentencing were handled on the "parenting"

level.

But that isn't always the case,

and the vandalism by teen drivers hasn't decreased, he said. So this spring,

city police are being instructed to crack down on irresponsible cart drivers

and that includes ticketing offenders.

Brown reminded teens that certain

aspects of Georgia's Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act, adopted

in 1997 after a series of high-profile fatal accidents involving teen

drivers, can apply to golf carts drivers.

State law requires a qualified

adult supervise when a 15-year-old gets behind the wheel of a car, but

Peachtree City gave approval in September for 15-year-olds with learners

permits to operate golf carts unsupervised. Otherwise, most of the rules

of the road also apply to the cart paths.

The act outlines a series of

steps teens must go through to get a full driver's permit by the time

they reach 18. But it also makes it clear that any traffic violation prior

to age 18 from reckless driving to DUI will disqualify a teen from getting

his or her permanent license.

"I just wanted to give

everyone fair warning prior to the Police Department issuing citations

for these problems," said Brown, urging parents to put make sure

their children are qualified to drive before taking out the family golf

cart.

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