I will call the judiciary committee meeting for August twelfth, twenty twenty-six to order.

Um roll call, uh all committee members are present, myself, Commissioner Shea, uh, Commissioner Thatcher, Commissioner Callahan, Commissioner Minkins, Commissioner Healy, and Commissioner Gerbrand.

Also in attendance is County Attorney Uh Matt Enruth.

Item number one, communication number twenty twenty-six-two zero seven, Melanie Watts, Butte Montana requesting council of commissioners' authorization to adopt an ordinance under MCA sixty-one eight three ninety-one to allow the operation of golf carts on designated streets with speed limits of twenty-five miles per hour or less.

Um I had s we'd spoken to Sheriff Lester and asked him to just come up and give us a short opinion from the law enforcement standpoint.

If you wouldn't mind, Sheriff Lester, you have the floor.

Uh yes, I looked at this uh proposal from Miss Watts and I did talk to Miss Watts as well about her proposal.

I have some real concerns about the safety of golf carts on the streets.

Uh first of all, I checked in to see whether golf carts actually had any kind of crash safety testing.

Uh they do not.

Uh just because they're not designed to withstand any type of motor vehicle crash.

So there is no crash data on the there was some testing that was done in two thousand fourteen that indicated that golf carts were not a good place to be in any kind of a crash.

So that's the only thing I could find.

So a lot of times the obviously when they tip over, there's ejections and people fall out of the cart, and that's the cause of most of the injuries with golf carts just on golf courses.

I think the testing I saw was a thirty-one miles an hour that very likely to have serious injuries or death, even at those speeds.

It's a uh it's got lights and signals and mirrors and uh headrests and those kind of things on it, but it still isn't built for travel on uh normal roadways where vehicles are uh and so the speed of the cart, even though limited to probably 15 or even 25 miles per hour on one of the faster ones is not really the biggest concern.

The speed is other vehicles that could hit the cart.

Uh and so neither of those vehicles, whether they're a low-speed vehicle or a golf cart are are equipped of any kind of a collision.

And so the two type of crashes that I really fear are uh a rear-end crash where the golf cart sparked behind another vehicle at a stoplight, or or if somebody's making a left turn and the golf cart stop behind that vehicle and somebody rear-ends the golf cart and pins the cart between the two vehicles, which could be you know could be two Dodge Rams for all we know.

Uh and then the uh the second type is a side swipe type collision where somebody runs through an intersection or an uncontrolled or stop sign or whatever and hits the side of the cart, and anybody in the cart would be ejected, even if you had seat belts in the cart, you're belting yourself into a vehicle that has no crumple zones.

I mean, the reason you wear your seatbelt in a regular vehicle is odds are you're gonna be better off staying inside the vehicle than if you are if you're being ejected.

So you you're not necessarily living with that same in a golf cart because that it is gonna crush uh as well as overturn.

So uh those are the two type of crashes that I really fear.

And I I talked to Miss Watts about her cart.

It's uh probably a low-speed vehicle more so than a golf cart, um, but still isn't designed for travel on the roadway, so uh I I understand her concerns about the gas prices, and we're all up against that, and I don't see that changing in the near future, but I just have some real concerns about the safety of golf carts operating with normal sized vehicles.

Thank you, Sheriff Lester.

Do any committee members have any questions for the sheriff?

Commissioner Callahan.

Thank you, Chairman Shay.

Uh Mr.

Lester, I completely agree with everything you said.

The only issue I would have is I've mentioned in earlier meetings that certain neighborhoods where the golf course is, it's pretty common that the people in that neighborhood drive on those roads and drive their golf cart to the course uh down at Staden Park.

They there's a business down there that rents their basement out for storage, and people leave from that business and go to the park.

So the only issue I would have with that is you're telling people we can't pass an ordinance for other people to drive there, but these people just seem to be status quo, they're in the neighborhood, so it's okay.

But uh I I agree with everything you said, but that would be a problem, I think.

I I agree with you, but I think we just have to let common sense rule the day.

Uh we generally don't I've never written a ticket to anybody driving a golf cart that's you know traveling three or four blocks to the country club or or the Highland View.

Um so that's something that we've kind of come to live with, but but encouraging more people to be on the roadway, I think it'd be bad.

So I don't anticipate going out there and tagging people for going to the island view.

Uh but uh we we kind of gonna have to let common sense be the determining factor there.

Thank you, Sheriff Lester.

Commissioner Gerbrand, I know that you had spoken to uh Mr.

Winnings, Mark Winnings.

Um did you have anything you wanted to add from your conversations with him?

Yes, uh thank you, Chair Shea.

Um I did talk to Mark Winnings, he owns Mark's golf cars and service on Harrison.

Maybe you've seen the shop.

And uh I was expecting him to be very supportive of vehicles on the streets with uh miles per hour less than twenty uh twenty-five or less, but I was surprised that he wasn't actually.

And uh he was uh brought up many of the points that we've already heard here.

He was concerned about safety of the people in the golf carts.

Um he said people are gonna be wanting to go to um Walmart, other businesses on Harrison, and they'll inevitably end up on a street that's that's greater than 25 mile per hour.

He did, however, say, as uh has just been discussed that he uh he wouldn't recommend uh strict enforcements for the golf carts that are in the vicinity of the golf courses and are just you know going two or three blocks.

Um anyway, and I personally am concerned about safety as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Gerbrand.

Um, all very good points, and I think the public safety is you know always one of the things that the public focuses on whenever they're surveyed about um what goes on in the community.

Um so I would entertain a motion.

Um Commissioner Thatcher.

Thank you, Chairman Sherry.

I'd like to make a motion to note and place on file communication number 2026-207.