Being a once-in-a-while golfer, Iwas interested in an article I received from CED InvestigativeTechnologies concerning the rise in golf-cart accidents. Accordingto the article, a local woman in Selma, Ind., died in a golf-cartaccident that the coroner called an extremely tragic freakaccident; and in Franklin, Tenn., a 15-year-old boy was killed andthree other teens injured in a golf-cart crash. From personalexperience, I can say that a good friend of ours had her shouldershattered when she was hit by a golf cart while on the course.

Now, golf carts are supposed to be safe vehicles, even as wedrive them without much concern all over the golf course (and offthe golf path). But I doubt if there are many (if any) regulationson the safety or use of the carts. So, accidents and resultinginjuries are going to occur, and the questions then arise: Who isresponsible, and who is going to pay for the injury claims?

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Suppose the golf-course owner is held responsible. Presumably,the owner has a General Liability policy or a specializedgolf-course policy to cover liability claims. The standardCommercial General Liability coverage form would respond to anyliability claim arising out of the ownership or use of a golf cart.An insurer might dispute coverage by asserting that the golf cartis an auto since it is a land motor vehicle. However, a morereasonable interpretation is the counterassertion that the golfcart is mobile equipment (and thus covered under the GeneralLiability form) since it is designed for use principally off publicroads.

But what if the individual driver of the golf cart is heldresponsible? That driver will no doubt look to his Homeowners'policy or even his Personal Auto policy for protection.

The standard Homeowners' policy excludes coverage formotor-vehicle liability, and a motor vehicle is defined as aself-propelled land vehicle, which would include a golf cart.However, the policy then declares that the exclusion does not applyto a motor vehicle designed for recreational use off public roadsand not owned by an insured (the exception also applies to amotorized golf cart that is owned by an insured, under certainconditions). So, the Homeowners' policy will offer coverage for theinsured if he or she inadvertently runs over a fellow golfer andcauses some bodily injury.

(As an aside, if the insured has been drinking a few too manybeers and has his or her driving ability impaired, that mostprobably is not going to change the accident, or occurrence, intoan intentional act, thereby preventing coverage. Also, if theinsured lets his children drive the golf cart and they run intoanother golfer, the Homeowners' policy is still applicable.)

The Personal Auto policy addresses golf-cart liability coveragein a different manner. The liability insuring agreement applies forthe ownership or use of any auto. But auto is not a defined term inthe standard Personal Auto policy, so this begs the question as towhether the insured would have coverage for a golf-cart accidentsince a case can be made that a golf cart is not actually an auto.The policy excludes liability coverage for the ownership or use ofany vehicle designed mainly for use off public roads but thenstates that the exclusion does not apply to any nonowned golf cart.(Golf carts owned by the insured can be covered through the use ofan endorsement to the Personal Auto policy.) So, the issue ofcoverage under the Personal Auto policy for a golf-cart accidentwould seem to hinge on weighing the insuring-agreement languageagainst the exception to the exclusion.

In my opinion, the intent is there to offer coverage for agolf-cart accident. The Personal Auto policy insurer would mostprobably prefer to have the coverage under the Homeowners' policy,but if the insured has both coverages with the same insurer, thatissue would not be a problem.

The bottom line, fellow golfers, is that we don't need to worryabout whether we are driving uninsured motor vehicles when we driveour golf carts—unless we want to use that as an excuse for shooting20 or 30 over par.