How do we set golf cart rules for our HOA streets and paths?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 20, 2026

How an HOA board writes golf cart rules: who controls the streets, Texas, Florida and Colorado cart laws, driver ages, insurance, parking and sample wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

The board can set golf cart rules for streets, paths and parking areas the association owns, as long as the declaration gives it rulemaking power and the rule does not conflict with state law. On public streets, the city, the county and the state decide who may drive a cart, and an association rule adds nothing a deputy can enforce. So the work comes in three parts. Find out who owns each street and path. Learn what your state already requires of carts and drivers. Then write a short rule for the places that are yours: where carts may go, who may drive, where they park and what insurance the owner carries. Adopt it with the notice your bylaws and state law require, and send it to every household before the summer. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents, so treat this guide as general education, not legal advice.

Find out who owns each street

Pull the recorded plat and the deed for the common area. Streets dedicated to the public on the plat belong to the city or county, even when the association mows the medians. Streets shown as private lots or common area belong to the association, and the declaration usually gives the board the power to regulate their use. Many communities have both: a public collector road through the middle and private loops or alleys off it. Mark each one on a simple map in two colors, and add the trails, the pool parking lot and the paths around the pond. If the plat is unclear, call the city or county public works office and ask whether the street is on its maintenance list. That answer settles most arguments. Keep the map. You will attach it to the rule, and the next board will need it the first time an owner asks why the association cannot stop carts on the main road.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado law already says

Texas Transportation Code section 551.403(a)(1) lets anyone operate a golf cart in a master planned community that is a residential subdivision or has a uniform set of restrictive covenants, and that has a plat approved by a county or city. Section 551.403(b) allows those carts on streets posted at 35 miles per hour or less without a golf cart license plate. Outside such a community, section 551.402 requires a golf cart plate from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, which costs no more than $10 and does not expire, and section 551.4041 requires headlamps, taillamps, reflectors, a parking brake and mirrors on carts driven on streets a city or certain counties have opened to carts under section 551.404. A city or county can prohibit carts on its streets for safety under section 551.4031. Florida section 316.212 allows carts only on roads a county or city has designated, during daylight unless the government approves night use and the cart has headlights, brake lights, turn signals and a windshield. Under 316.212(7), a driver under 18 needs a learner's license or driver license, and an adult needs a government photo ID. Colorado section 42-4-111(1)(bb) lets a city or county authorize carts on its roads, but never for drivers under 16 and never on a state highway except a direct crossing. Colorado section 42-1-102(39.5) defines a golf car as having a design speed under 20 miles per hour.

Decide the rules that are yours to set

State law sets a floor on public roads. On private streets and paths, the board fills in the details, and five decisions cover most of it. First, where carts may go: streets only, or also the paved trail, and never the pool deck, playground or grass. Second, who may drive: most associations pick a licensed driver, or an adult in the seat beside a teenager with a learner's permit, which tracks Florida's statute and is easy to explain anywhere. Third, speed: carts top out near 20 miles per hour, so the useful limit is for paths and parking lots, where 10 is common. Fourth, parking: name the spaces at the pool and clubhouse where carts park and say carts may not sit on common-area grass overnight. Fifth, nighttime: if any cart rides after dark, require working headlights and taillights. In Florida, a board that wants state traffic laws enforced on association roads has a separate tool. Section 316.006(2)(b)4 and (3)(b)5 let the board elect, by majority vote, to have local law enforcement enforce state traffic laws on its private roads. Discuss that with the sheriff or police department first, because it changes how every vehicle on those roads is policed, not only carts.

Rule wording the board can adapt

Keep the rule to one page so it fits on the back of the pool pass. 'Golf cart and low-speed vehicle rules. These rules apply on association-owned streets, paths and parking areas shown on the attached map. Carts on public streets are governed by state and local law. 1. Drivers must hold a valid driver license, or hold a learner's license with a licensed adult in the front seat. 2. Carts may be driven on streets and on the paved loop trail only. No carts on the pool deck, playground, sports courts or any lawn. 3. Speed limit on paths and in parking lots: 10 mph. Yield to pedestrians at all times. 4. No more riders than the cart has seats. 5. Carts driven between sunset and sunrise must have working headlights and taillights. 6. Park only in marked cart spaces at the pool and clubhouse. Carts may not be stored on common area. 7. Owners are responsible for carts driven by members of their household, tenants and guests. Violations are handled under the association's enforcement policy.' A low-speed vehicle with a title and plate is a motor vehicle, not a cart, so rule 1 still applies to it, and on public roads it follows the same law as a car.

Adopt it, register carts and ask about insurance

Before the vote, post the draft and the street map and ask owners one survey question: 'Where have you seen a golf cart create a safety problem in the last year?' The answers show where the rule needs teeth. Then adopt it at an open meeting with the notice your bylaws require. Our guide on adopting a new HOA rule and notifying owners covers the vote and the mailing. A cart sticker program helps if carts are common. Each household registers its cart, the driver names and proof that the owner's homeowner or cart policy covers liability for the cart, then gets a numbered sticker. A volunteer can match a reported cart to a household without stopping anyone. Ask the association's insurance agent two questions in writing: does the general liability policy respond to a cart crash on an association street, and does it exclude vehicles the association does not own. Owners should ask their own carriers about cart coverage. The association's agent cannot answer for an owner's policy. A sample timeline: survey in March, draft at the April meeting, notice and adoption in May, stickers issued at the pool opening.

Enforce it through the household

Nobody should step in front of a moving cart or take keys from a teenager. A report from a director or resident should include the date, time, place, cart description and sticker number. The first response is a friendly letter to the household with the rule attached. A repeat goes through your fine policy and the notice your state requires. In Texas, section 209.006 of the Property Code requires a certified mail notice describing the violation, a reasonable cure period and the right to request a hearing within 30 days before the association can fine. In Florida, section 720.305(2) requires at least 14 days' notice and a hearing before a committee of at least three members who are not directors, officers or employees. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(b)(III) requires a certified mail notice and 30 days to cure for a violation that does not threaten public safety or health, and caps total fines for that violation at $500. A cart crash with injuries is a matter for the police, not a letter. Our guide on e-bike and scooter rules for HOA trails covers the other vehicles that share the same paths.

Mistakes boards make

The most common is writing a rule for a public street the association does not control, then sending violation letters an owner can ignore. The second is a blanket ban on private streets in a community where half the retirees use carts to reach the pool, which turns a safety rule into a recall petition. The third is a minimum age with no license requirement, so a 12-year-old with a 'grown-up' in the back seat technically complies. Others: a speed limit with no signs, carts parked across the pool's fire lane because nobody marked cart spaces, and a rule that never mentions guests, so the visiting grandchildren are outside it. Last, boards forget that a cart rule is still a rule. If the declaration requires owner approval for rules about vehicles, or the bylaws require a 30-day comment period, a board vote alone will not hold. Read those two documents before the first draft, not after the first complaint.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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