A recent ruling

for kids under 16 in Peachtree City.

The court said

state law requires golf cart drivers to possess a driver's license as

it ruled against a man who appealed his conviction for driving a golf

cart with a suspended license. The court reasoned that golf carts are

"motor vehicles" since they are self-propelled, and persons

driving motor vehicles are licensed by the state; the court cited case

law that determined a license is required even to drive a farm tractor.

The court's

decision basically overrules Peachtree City's golf cart ordinance, which

allows children 12-14 years old to drive when accompanied by an adult

and those 15 years old to drive alone when they have a learners permit.

"We are

really stunned by this decision," said Mayor Steve Brown on Thursday.

"After years of Council support for local laws allowing younger and

properly supervised unlicensed drivers on our path system, this ruling

completely supercedes our ordinances relating to golf carts."

The city has

the power to license the golf carts themselves, not drivers, the court

said in its opinion.

State Court

Solicitor General Steve Harris said the court's ruling means no one without

a valid license can drive a golf cart even on the city's cart paths.

Police Chief

James V. Murray cautioned parents and golf cart owners of the seriousness

of the ruling Thursday, saying, "If unlicensed drivers are caught

operating carts on the streets or cart paths now, they will face the same

consequences as driving an automobile without a drivers license."

Brown said

the city will create some kind of "protocol" for enforcing the

new ruling and "break it in slowly" to give young drivers plenty

of time to learn about the ruling.

And City Attorney

Ted Meeker is researching to determine whether the ruling will require

golf cart owners to have liability insurance, as is required for automobiles.

In the past,

an estimated half-dozen young adults and teens have been charged with

driving a golf cart without a license or with a suspended license, but

Harris' office dropped those charges because of the conflict between the

Peachtree City golf cart ordinance and the state law on motor vehicles.

"We didn't

think it was appropriate to holdthem accountable for the mixed messages

they were getting," Harris said.

The situation

was different this time with William Thomas Coker of Peachtree City who

had the suspended license charge upheld by the appeals court. Harris said

his office wanted "to throw the book" at Coker, an adult, who

was also convicted of DUI in the same case his third DUI according to

court records.

State Court

Judge Fletcher Sams sentenced Coker to two years in prison and a $1,000

fine after he was found guilty in a jury trial in January of last year.

Assistant Solicitor General Lura Landis prosecuted the case and wrote

the brief in support of the prosecution for the Appeals Court case.

Coker was originally

arrested on the charges July 21, 2001, at 1:15 a.m. when a Peachtree City

Police Officer observed him driving on Northlake Drive and Aberdeen Parkway.

He was first charged with driving while declared a habitual violator,

which would have been in the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, but that

charge was later reduced to DUI, putting the case in State Court, Harris

said.

Coker was represented

Lloyd Walker appealed the case, claiming that the General Assembly didn't

intend for golf carts to be classified as a motor vehicle under the law.

Instead, golf

carts should be classified as "motorized carts" which don't

have as many restrictions, Walker argued in his brief to the appeals

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