Uneasy riding - Georgia town overrun by golf carts

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. -- A funny thing happens here every weekday at 3:20 p.m. The bell rings at McIntosh High School and hundreds of students flow into their vehicles, causing a major traffic jam.

But it's not cars that are causing the problem. It's golf carts.

In this upscale suburb 30 miles south of Atlanta, almost everyone can afford a car. But the vehicle of choice for adults and students is the electric golf cart, which allows them to go almost anywhere without spending a dime for gasoline -- and in some cases, without a full-fledged driver's license.

While golf cart communities are common in retirement areas of California, Arizona and Florida, Peachtree City is unique because it is home to many young families. More teenagers ride golf carts to school than cars.

Out of control

For years, students have parked on the street behind the school because the principal won't allow the carts on campus. But since the legal age for driving carts was lowered last month to 15, officials say the situation has grown out of control.

"To have a cart parked in the student parking lot is a massive safety issue," said principal Greg Stillions, who runs the school of 1,500 students.

"Some people don't think 15-year-olds should be driving anything. If they are not mature enough to drive a car, how can they handle a motorized golf cart in the streets? We already have enough fender benders. I don't want to have to call a parent to say their child has been hit by a golf cart in the parking lot."

'Planned community'

On weekdays, about 170 carts are parked on the street behind the school, blocking entrances to businesses, taking up parking spaces and clogging thoroughfares that lead to the highway. This is a result, some say, of living in a suburb built entirely from a blueprint.

For 40 years, this suburb has been hailed as an example of what the experimental "New Town" communities built across the country in the late 1950s and early 1960s should be like. Peachtree City grew into one of the best-known "planned communities" in the U.S. And the golf cart became its trademark.

Peachtree City is characterized by lush green space, three golf courses and tiny commercial districts scattered throughout. Homes range in price from $100,000 to well over $1 million. But the town's crown jewel is the more than 80 miles of asphalt paths used for jogging, bicycling and, of course, golf carts.

While the town still typifies many elements of so-called smart growth, it is facing some of the same issues as major cities, including poor air quality, traffic congestion and long commutes. Hundreds of residents drive to Atlanta, causing gridlock on Interstate 85.

Though the golf carts help Peachtree City cut down on air pollution within its boundaries, dirty air still blows in from Atlanta, forcing the town to adhere to strict regional clean-air guidelines.

Mayor Steve Brown estimates that more than 9,000 golf carts are used in the city. In addition, about 150 sophisticated Global Electric Motorcars, or GEMs, are on the road. The expensive egg-shaped vehicles feature safety belts, heaters and CD players.

Carting around

Hundreds of parents cart their children on golf carts to Little League games and ballet lessons, traveling paved paths, two bridges and tunnels that keep them away from automobile traffic. At up to 20 mph., residents run errands, dine out and jog along nature trails. And they can get in a round of golf without pulling out their car.

The golf cart frenzy began a few years after a group of investors bought about 9,000 acres of Georgia farmland in 1959 and began building Peachtree City. The utility company needed easement to lay pipe, and officials came up with the novel idea for them to lay an asphalt trail in exchange for the land.

Teenagers were elated this summer when the city council voted to allow 15-year-olds to drive golf carts without adult supervision as long as they have a learner's permit. Children as young as 12 can drive a cart if a parent is with them.

"The benefit is that we have a lot of high school kids who are 15 on the track team, the football team, cheerleaders. Now the mothers don't have to pick them up anymore," Brown said.