Police: Youngsville sees spike in unlawful use of golf carts, drivers are mostly minors

YOUNGSVILLE, La. (KLFY)- Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux says he has seen an increase in unlicensed minors driving golf carts around the streets of the Youngsville community.

“It’s been an ever-growing problem having unlicensed minors operating the carts without adult supervision,” Chief Boudreaux says.

Boudreaux says he has been lenient with some of the rules and residents.

However, with the increase of minors and pre-teens not following road rules while operating golf carts, he says, officers will start stricter enforcement of the ordinance.

“We are going to go by the letter of the law which states licensed drivers must operate the carts, the carts must be registered with the city of Youngsville, and you must prove you have liability insurance,” explains Chief Boudreaux.

During the summer months, Boudreaux says he plans on having more patrol officers on the streets watching for unlawful golf cart activity.

“All high school resource officers are out of school so that’s extra, myself, assistant chief, we have traffic division and regular patrolmen,” Chief Boudreaux adds.

The number one reason for the stricter rules and more police patrol is safety for the residents of Youngsville, he said.

“The problem we have seen and been reported is they don’t obey the stop signs, they don’t yield to passing vehicles, they are not yielding to pedestrians to pedestrians,” Chief Boudreaux explains. “They don’t know traffic laws, so they don’t know how to follow them.”