Five people were killed and four more seriously injured
in a multi-cart accident caused by illegal fairway racers piloting highly customized
golf carts. Four others were treated at the scene and released.
It was the third fairway racing incident to cause
fatalities since December, when a driver lost control on the ninth
fairway at a Malibu area course plowing into a crowd of golfers awaiting
a shotgun start tournament.
Vigorous law enforcement targeting street racers has
driven many to the un-policed fairways where racers often exceed speeds
of 35 mph in heavily customized golf carts outfitted with tens of
thousands of dollars in performance and stylistic accessories.
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This
EZ-GO golf cart seized at a recent Illegal fairway race has over
$100,000 in performance upgrades
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Source: Palm Beach Police Department
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"Golfers don't expect to see high performance golf
carts screaming down the fairways at 35 mph," explained Pebble
Beach Police spokesman James Calvin, "most golfers are elderly and
have lost most of their reflexes anyway. The added speed we're
seeing from these souped-up golf carts is a tremendous danger."
The high performance fairway racing carts can easily
outrun any course marshals or greens keepers pursuing the racers, leaving
officials essentially powerless to interdict on anything but a limited
scale.
Today's tragedy occurred as four high-performance carts
raced side-by-side around the par 5, 572 yard, dogleg-right 14th hole. Vernest
Bradshaw, age 73, was driving his cart across the cart path to retrieve
his wife Ethel's errant tee shot when they were broadsided by 23 year
old Jonathon Gilmorea, who was driving the high performance cart
accompanied by passenger Steven Givenscy. All four passengers in both carts
were pronounced dead at the scene. Also killed was 19 year old Ernesto
Rivas who drove into a tree while trying to avoid the collision.
The other two golf carts involved in the race fled the
scene before police arrived. There are currently no leads.
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